Those The Sun Has Loved | Juana Valdes

Those The Sun Has Loved, Juana Valdes (Miami FL)

Miami Goes Elsewhere. June 2016. Appliquéd images printed on fabric, thread, documented oral histories.

Those The Sun Has Loved is a photo-based and oral history documentary project capturing Elsewhere’s institutional transition during a historic restoration that brought the building up to code, architecturally transforming it into truly livable space for future residents.

Valdes constructs a narrative of this moment from the perspective of the participants through multiple mediums including audio interviews from staff, interns, residents, and contracted workers, a banner that hosts their portraits, and a digital photographic tour from her viewpoint. Valdes constructed the hand appliquéd tapestry in collaboration with the museum’s visiting public, Elsewhere’s community, the construction crew, and finally with her mother who is a Cuban-American immigrant.

Entitled after a found book in the museum that follows a family saga covering over 200 years and seven generations of a freeborn African Americans, Those The Sun Has Loved captures moments of synchronicity that collapse time, histories, and personal narratives.  Valdes’s work gives presence to the individuals whose unseen daily labor builds an organization.

All portraits below by Valdez.

Deriek A Baker

Kevin Mc Cuiston

Julian Perez

Brian Hendley

Armando Martinez

Fermin Jiminez

Amelia Nura

Kyle Hazard

Elliot Earl Keeley

Andrew Day

Steve Timbliw

Mark Hutchins

Frederick Fuller

William S King

Bobby Shield

Ben Wright

Bryce Lawrie

Rodney Jones

Ricardo Saucedo

Jonathan Edmonds

Jesus Martinez

Nelson NG

Clare Hu

Cooper Goldman

Cassidy Shanon Frye

Tim Woodall

Joel Velodez

Oscar Bibiano Ramirez

Zack Ownes

Brandon Thomas

Rick Hendley

Craig Grant

Kennett Tackett

Corey Trollinger

Armando Martinez

Joseph L Overby

PROCESS:

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