"Photographing the immediate world around me is a vital outlet in my life. I find it cathartic to break down the whirlwinds of the day into individual still frames—bite sized moments that make complex situations palatable.

The result is three distinct but closely related bodies of work: Sicily, Glasgow through a Glass, and The Teacher and the Healer. While each project is almost entirely pictures of others, collectively they create a sort of self-portrait.

Sicily navigates my heritage as I seek to understand and feel connected to my family’s homeland. As the daughter of two immigrants, and one myself, I have always been interested in cultural identity and how that influences our own sense of place. I am a Cuban-Sicilian-American who has lived in Scotland for over 19 years and my own identity lies somewhere in the middle, near the hyphens. I am often thinking about what ‘feeling at home’ means and and how we sometimes must leave the place of our birth to find it. It is a journey that creates a whole new identity, different to the culture left behind and to the one newly adopted.

It is a theme also relative to the photographs in Glasgow through a Glass. The project began as a way to explore these historic streets and absorb the life and culture around me. With many of the photographs looking into interior spaces through a window, it is very much an outsider’s view of a place that is both mystery and muse— a place that through photography, I have increasingly felt comforted by and connected to.

Finally, The Teacher and the Healer is my most personal project. It documents the chaos, challenges, and endless love of having two boys with neurodiversity. I had never photographed my personal space before, but just as it did for everyone, Covid-19 reset everything. The pandemic happened at a time of personal crisis within our family after months of meltdowns and tantrums that were clearly beyond what was considered “normal”.

We received an autism and ADHD diagnosis for our eldest son In January 2020. Denny has an explosive energy that is matched only by his beautiful imagination. I often think of him as our Teacher because he has given me a view of the universe I didn't know was possible before. Then, there is the incredible kindness, patience and empathy of Nico. He is The Healer who instinctively knows how to balance his older brother's needs, despite his own diagnosis of ADHD which came later. He is our brilliant artist with a compassionate soul wise beyond his years.

Photographing the boys through lockdown was a way to process these diagnostic labels with their stigma and baggage, and question what they mean. Seeing our boys thrive in their own way changed my own understanding. I hope the pictures reflect this and give an alternative view of neurodiversity.

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