This photo was taken on my spring break trip to Puerto Rico. I wanted to have memories of my travels and I felt like the best way to do this was by capturing images of locals doing everyday things. I decided to take a picture of a man playing a guitar for tips at La Bombonera (famous for serving mallorcas, opened in 1902). I noticed the man was sitting alone at the stool and the essence of time could be seen with the old pictures and kitchen equipment in the background. The majority of the people at the restaurant were tourists from different cruises. It was interesting to see their reaction to the music and food. Coming from Puerto Rican decent, I was able to appreciate and relate heavily on the moment I was able to capture. If the man in my picture would take a picture of me he would probably make it a close up of my face to see my fascination of the Puerto Rican culture with a caption saying “Boricua aunque haya nacido en la luna,” (Puerto Rican even if I was born on the moon). “The other,” would assume that I do not come from this by my physical appearances. They would most likely think I was on a leisure vacation when in fact the purpose of the trip was to reconnect with my roots. After reflecting on this photo, I can honestly say it will change the way I take travel photographs. Many times we take hundreds of photographs without ever stopping to think and reflect on what exactly we are trying to capture. When taking pictures of other people, it’s critical to think whether you want them to pose or whether you are trying to capture them doing their daily routines. Often times we assume that other people come from the same background as ourselves but each and every individual person has a unique story.
