Festival Speaker Series
Artist's Talk by Oscar B. Castillo
Speaking about his new book, "Esos Que Saben/Those Who Know"
Reception follows with book signing and party to celebrate SDN's Visual Storytelling Festival
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Leica Gallery Boston
74 Arlington Street, Boston
5:30 pm Doors open
6:00 pm Artist talk
7:15 pm Reception
Space is limited. Register early
Oscar will talk about his photobook Esos Que Saben exploring life in prison, change, dreams, the Free Convict Hip Hop Collective and their journey from incarceration to freedom in Venezuela. Through photography, documents, interventions, collages and collaborative work, this book aims to interconnect the dots of childhood, adolescence, education, exclusion, family, the mirage of power and aggressive masculinity, and the reality of fast death or hard work for self redemption. The book follows how these young men living in a system that sees them as a lost cause, and with all the odds against, built and developed their own plan for reinsertion.
Oscar B. Castillo
Oscar B. Castillo was born in Caracas, Venezuela. After studying psychology at Venezuelan Central University, the thirst for knowledge and experiences lead him to meander for years through many streets until photography took him back to formal education
His professional work as photographer has been geared towards social subjects related to youth, identity, the cycles of political rupture and the initiatives for inclusion and community empowerment, at the time that questions the photo industry and the role we can play in a deeper and more meaningful debate.
Parallel to his photographic work, he has developed a passion for teaching photography as an tool for education, inclusion and social improvement. As instructor and teacher, he have taken part in participatory photographic workshops with kids from excluded communities in Mexico, youngsters in IDPs camps in post-earthquake Haiti, and inmates inside Venezuelan prisons. He has also teaches in formal educational programs in Colombia, Argentina, Guatemala, Venezuela amongst many others.
His work has been widely published by The Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, New York Times, Le Monde, NZZ, LFI-Leica Magazine, BJP Magazine among others, exhibited internationally and recognized by awards, grants and fellowships from Eugene Smith Grant, Magnum Foundation, Onassis Foundation, World Press Photo, Aperture / Paris Photo, Tim Hetherington Visionary Award amongst other important international recognitions.
Sponsored by:
