Homegrown

This is the first part of a project i started this year. these four images will be up in the HFAC at BYU on the fifth floor as part of a show my digital imaging class is putting up.

I was born and raised south of Salt Lake City Utah, in fact the 3^rd generation to do so, this may seem insignificant to most. However I am not Caucasian in any way shape or form, but I am an American, heck, I'm a bit of a hick, most who know me they say “ sway. You’re the whitest Mexican I know!” My Mother is from Costa Rica, my father raised, just one little hill over form where I was, is Mexican. My grandfather born in Mexico, my Grandmother, who was also born in Salt Lake City, her parents are from central Mexico. This leaves me as a full blood Latino whose family has lived here in the United States since the early 20^th century. A third family has also become a major part of my shaping. When my mother came to the US the missionary ‘s family that my mother became a part of has completely embraced our family as if we have always been a part of theirs. This gives me another set of grandparents, whom I call grandma and grandpa, their children are my aunts and uncles. Why am I telling you all of this, these events have left me with a very eclectic life, and personal culture.

At the beginning of the year I embarked on a project, which has actually been side-bared due to this off shoot of that project. The project involved a story telling of the Forks, in particular American and Spanish Fork cities, when it occurred to me why I was doing the project. I was identifying with my very roots. Although, many Latino, customs play a very essential role in my life, I am at my very core American. The following images are a discovery of myself, and my identity, as a Latino, as an American and more importantly as an individual. These images are portrayals of who and what I identify as. Some are dreams, aspirations, family, beliefs, pleasures, and most of all hopefully will give the viewer a sense of who I am, and the melting pot into which I have been blessed with.