NOTE 6.20.11: An update from Oscar with a letter to donors and images from his new camera can be found by clicking here.
Age: 24
Location: Medellín, Colombia
Request: Nikon d3100 kit
Grant Status: $590 of 590 raised (100%)
Donate here
Oscar was born in Bello, Antioquia, just outside of Medellín, where he continues to live with his parents, a brother, and four cats in an apartment directly above his grandmother. He has worked his own way through high school and college since the age of 13, making wooden crosses for first communions, crafting hand-made belts, picking up small carpentry jobs, and doing upholstery work.
After passing the admission exam for the public University of Antioquia in Medellín, Oscar began studies in sociology before moving into the fine arts after taking a course on the sociology of art. He has secured a job at the univeristy's museum that helps him cover basic tuition costs and transportation to school, but has been unable to purchase a camera to advance his studies in photography. He currently uses a compact point-and-shoot he purchased on credit to be able to take his first photography class at the university.
He looks forward to pursuing a career in photography, having found that the visual language of the medium affords him an expressive capacity he has looked for in the visual arts. He has been drawn to digital image making, finding the speed and facility of digital image manipulation to allow him to focus more on the conceptual side of his work. Early work in portraiture has lead him to an interest in both the individual and the body. He has begun to address a series of ontological questions about his relationship to his own body and existence through photographing in hospitals and morgues. He is also taking advantage of his time at the university to explore landscape and street photography.
In his eighth semester at school, Oscar is eager to move ahead after school with his career in photography and hopes you will be inspired to help him do so.
Photographer Amani Willett says about the work, "Oscar has a natural ability for 'seeing' the world as photographs. His use of light and texture combined with his sensitivity to the signs and symbols within his images result in stunning and provocative pictures. His is a bright future."
Portfolios
Street Photography
Hospitals and Morgues Project
