It's Not the Same Anymore
About
This photo series juxtaposes pictures of my childhood in Venezuela with the environments I’ve lived in in the United States. When I made this photo series, I was in the middle of an immigration process that did not allow me to return to my home country. Not having the ability to go back to the places I grew up in to reminisce on my memories from childhood, inspired me to make this series to contrast the places I grew up around with the places I live in now.
This project directly shows the process of acculturation, specifically portraying how immigrants must make sense of past memories in a new, and completely different environment, and try to blend who they were with where they are.
This image gives the illusion that the highway on the picture being held is the same as the one signaled above. The Ávila mountain pictured in the middle is one of the most memorable natural features of my home state Caracas.
I live near Washington DC now, so in this specific image I wanted to show the two cities I’ve lived in.
Digital Photography & Photoshop, 2019
This image blends my childhood bedroom with my bedroom in college.
The image at the forefront shows my family and myself together when I was a kid. Both of the images here were taken in parks that my family frequents (Forefront in Venezuela, and Background in Virginia).
In a way, this image is me trying to physically portray how it felt for me and my family to figure out how we fit in the new environments we moved to.
This image compares mundane environments like the kitchen in both the home I grew up in and the home I live in now. Sometimes we even try to find ourselves in our everyday environments.
Surprisingly, the setting in both of the pictures are so similar that it makes it seem like it was taken at the same place. There are definitely places where I live now that remind me of places I went to in my youth, and this is an example of them.
Here I also wanted to show the feeling of wanting to see an old friend again. Especially in such a similar environment, it’s common to think about past times with loved ones and wanting to go back in time to re-live good times.
Digital Photography & Photoshop, 2019
This image contrasts the busy streets of Caracas in times of protest with some of the quieter streets of Washington, DC. It should also be noted that a park near where I lived in Caracas was (and still is) the meeting point for many protests in the city. It is interesting to contrast the two capital cities, where people constantly protest policies, injustices, and politicians.
The difference here also lies in the fact that while protests in DC seem to mostly be peaceful and safe, it is the complete opposite in Venezuela. I lived through political strife and major political events in Venezuela growing up, and while I still participate in political activism in the US, it cannot compare to what I experienced in Venezuela.
Claudia Bermúdez
Claudia Bermúdez (she/they) was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. They emigrated to the United States with their parents at 14 years old, and after 10 long years, Claudia and her family became US citizens. As an immigrant, Claudia has experienced both moments of stability and significant struggle, and she finds comfort in expressing these moments through art.
In college, Claudia studied psychology, gender studies and immigration studies, which inform both their life and their art. Ideas like acculturation, anxiety, gender expression, and sexuality come to the forefront in her work. Claudia believes that art is a powerful form of expression, and portraying marginalized experiences is a way to regain power and visibility, and create community. They are honored to be able to create and share their art for Here Nor There.
