Home again

Luis Garcia’s photography allowed him to rediscover his Dominican roots
HERO Magazine
Art | 15 January 2025

Home changes over time, it evolves with new meaning, memories and sentiment – good/bad. For photographer Luis Garcia, home comes with dualities. Born in the Dominican Republic, the photographer moved to New York at eleven years old and grew up in Washington Heights and Harlem. Adjusting to this new environment didn’t come easy, “I didn’t speak English, and school was tough,” Garcia tells us. But on the other side, when he’d return to the Dominican Republic, he felt that same underlying sense of being an outsider: “It felt like I didn’t belong there anymore either.” It was through discovering photography in his twenties that these feelings began to shift as Garcia was able to view these places so vital to his story through a new lens, and with that came a deeper understanding. “Everything shifted, [photography] became my language, a way to process and translate the chaos, energy, and beauty.” Here we feature Garcia’s photography series documenting the Dominican Republic, specifically his hometown, Las Matas de Santa Cruz, alongside self-written text describing the meaning behind the work.

GALLERY

“Through my camera, I found a way to tell stories that words couldn’t. Now, I’m turning my lens back to the Dominican Republic, starting with my hometown, Las Matas de Santa Cruz. It’s the place where I spent my earliest years, but after nearly twenty years away, coming back felt like stepping into a new world. The town has grown, new faces have moved in, and familiar ones have aged or moved on. It’s a mix of what I remember and what’s completely unfamiliar. This project began there, but it’s about more than just Las Matas. I’ll be traveling to towns across the island, capturing the beauty of the people, the culture, and even the changes – both the ones that feel hopeful and the ones that feel bittersweet.

There’s something striking about seeing how the country is evolving, whether it’s through the influx of Haitian communities near my hometown or the way modern development is reshaping places that once felt untouched. In many ways, this project feels like a prequel to Beauty Beauty [Garcia’s book celebrating New York]. The same themes are there – finding beauty in people, places, and things – but now I’m exploring them through a different lens, in a place that shaped so much of who I am. It’s personal, but it’s also pushing me out of my comfort zone. And just like New York, the Dominican Republic is full of contrasts – old and new, tradition and transformation, simplicity and complexity. That’s what I want to capture with this work: the beauty in all of it.”

Follow Luis on Instagram.

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