LO QUE LE PASO A HAWAii // WHAT HAPPENED TO HAWAII
Jesse Ilan Kornbluth | Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Photographer: Jesse Ilan Kornbluth
Exhibit Title: LO QUE LE PASO A HAWAii // WHAT HAPPENED TO HAWAII
Location: Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico exists within a unique neo-colonial liminal state - American enough to pay federal taxes, but not American enough to have the right to vote in the general elections...A persisting colonial legacy in which Puerto Ricans cannot independently author their own future or fate.
In recent years, poorly managed natural disasters, rapid gentrification, and corruption have sparked a resurgence of the Puerto Rican independence movement. This struggle parallels the experiences of the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York City, particularly the cultural erasure and displacement caused by gentrification.
This project explores how Puerto Ricans on the archipelago and in the diaspora express their independence through art, agriculture, and music as a means of resistance in the absence of political autonomy.
The title is inspired by a song "LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii," from Bad Bunny’s new album. A call-to-action for Puerto Ricans to take charge of their fate, by any means necessary, lest they suffer the same fate as Hawaii, where the indigenous culture has become barely recognizable.
My name is Jesse Ilan Kornbluth, I am documentary photographer, writer, and researcher born and raised in New York city currently based in Puerto Rico.
I am an alum of the International Center of Photography's one-year intensive documentary photography and visual journalism program and the 2024 Eddie Adams Workshop. I earned a bachelor's degree in sociocultural anthropology and a master’s in international relations.
I spent my early career working in international development and human rights across Latin America, India, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, and at the Brookings Institution, where I wrote about global geopolitics and human rights at Brookings's Foreign Policy program.
My work explores intergenerational trauma, tradition, cultural expression, conflict, and diasporic experiences in a modern context. My primary guiding principles as a visual artist are a deep sense of empathy and a rigorous dedication to creating spaces for constructive exchange between ideological opponents.
I sit on several NGO advisory boards, am a frequent guest speak in university and high school classrooms, and participate in mentorship programs for disadvantaged youth in New York City.
My work has been featured in the Wall St. Journal, VICE News, the New York Times, and others.
Along with my photography, I also do a bit of writing. Some work is linked below.
https://medium.com/@textstomyself
https://www.brookings.edueople/jesse-kornbluth/
The New York Times
Libros 787
Archive.org
ACLU
La Goyco, San Juan, PR
ACLU of Puerto Rico
Jesse Ilan Kornbluth
jesseilanphoto@gmail.com
201-638-4555
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