In a land shaped by colonialism, photographer Christopher Gregory Rivera hopes to foster a “better understanding of where we are and who we are—and where we could possibly go.”
Flamenco, has been named one of the top 10 beaches in the world. I’m Puerto Rican, and by photographing it like this, I’m trying to make a point. This place that is beautiful—and enjoyable, and a tourist destination—has a complicated history that’s important to understand, for both visitors and locals. When I was a child in San Juan schools, a lot of our story was glossed over: The islands were “discovered” by Christopher Columbus, the Taíno Indians were decimated, the U.S.
Puerto Rico is considered the world’s oldest colony. The legal word for our status is “territory,” but this is a land completely shaped by colonialism and conflict. It will take years to finish removing the unexploded ordnance on Vieques and Culebra islands, from the decades of U.S. military testing. To this day, divorcing yourself from that reality does a disservice to the people who live here.
Tourists climb on a rusting U.S. military tank on Flamenco Beach in Culebra, an island off the east coast of mainland Puerto Rico. Culebra and the nearby island of Vieques were used for weapons testing and military exercises that lasted until 1975 and 2003, respectively.Kariel Argenis Díaz Maisonet, a multidisciplinary artist who performs in drag here to honor ancestors, takes part in a cultural event in Loíza, on Puerto Rico’s northeastern coast.
Cacimar Cruz Crespo retires a banner of pro-independence activist José Rafael “Fefel” Varona at the end of a remembrance ceremony in San Juan. Varona led protests against the draft for the Vietnam War and died in 1968, after sustaining injuries in North Vietnam from a U.S. air raid at an agricultural cooperative school he was visiting.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Amalia Rodríguez looks out from her porch in Salinas, a once thriving company town tied to the Aguirre Central Sugar Mill. Opened in the mid-1800s, the mill was later purchased by a U.S. company. It became a prosperous operation that relied on locals during its heyday in the 1950s.The Caribe Hilton, built nearly 75 years ago to help draw tourists to Puerto Rico, looms over a reenactor straightening the Spanish flag at an 18th-century fort in San Juan.
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