Uptown Faces
Uptown Faces was a small side project I did right after graduating undergrad in 2019. I wanted to document and interview people around the neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood where I spent a good chunk of my childhood in as a first generation Dominican-American.
Jessica Martinez
Jessica Martinez, 25, works both in her community church near Dyckman Street and on her own brand @gnrtn.why , whose first project is ‘Save Uptown”, bringing awareness to gentrification and rezoning taking place in Harlem, the Heights and Inwood. “I started this to have a voice in everything. When you hear gentrification, you think white people and dogs, and I just wanted to give a face to the other side, which is the people that are getting affected and are not gonna reap the benefits from what’s going on.” Washington Heights, July 2019
Juan Batista
“I am from La Penda, La Vega, in the Dominican Republic. I have been selling ice cream for the children of Jesus for 30 years. Here there are people who have differences amongst people, but for me we are all the same. No one is better than anyone. We are all equal, we are all born and we all die. So I am here giving service to the children, I work for the children, because the children like the Delicioso Coco.”
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“Soy de la Penda, La Vega, en Republica Dominica, tengo 30 años aquí vendiendo helado para los niños de Jesus. Aquí hay gente que tienen diferencias entre personas, pero para mi todos somos iguales. Nadie es mejor que nadie. Todos somos iguales, todos nacemos y todo morimos. Entonces estoy aquí dandole servicio para los niños, yo trabajo para los niños, porque a los niños le gustan mucho el Delicioso Coco.”
Father Ambriox Rodriguez
Father Ambroix Rodriguez is the pastor of St Elizabeth Church on 189th and Wadsworth. Ambroix grew up in the area since his youth, grateful to give back to his community in the form of service at the church.
“Es una comunidad donde hay de todos, siempre se creía que era el corazón de los dominicos, pero aquí tenemos de todo tipo de personas de muchos países. Y también niños, jóvenes, adultos, ancianos; y es una comunidad con un corazón muy grande. Y estoy muy agredecido a dios por verme traimo aquí
It’s a community where you have everything. The area has always been thought to be the heart of Dominicans, but here we have a good diversity of people; children, adolescents, adults and the elderly; it’s a community with a very big heart, and I’m thankful to God for bringing me here.”