{"id":8579,"date":"2020-07-07T08:12:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T08:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/?p=8579"},"modified":"2023-01-01T09:47:18","modified_gmt":"2023-01-01T09:47:18","slug":"ruben-natal-san-miguel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/ruben-natal-san-miguel\/","title":{"rendered":"These Photos Will Remind You of What Makes New York City Great"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photographers always talk about the \u201cdecisive moment,\u201d that lucky instant in which a great image is born. For Ruben Natal-San Miguel, New York is full of such moments, always waiting around the next corner. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here, there\u2019s a pregnant woman dressed as a mermaid. Over there, two twins wearing their Easter best, or a young mother dancing with her newborn in the spray of a fire hydrant.<\/span><\/p>\n

The artist\u2014born in Puerto Rico, but based in Harlem for the past 18 years\u2014uses his camera to capture what\u2019s delightful, unexpected, and heroic about the city. His most recent exhibition, \u201c<\/span>Women R Beautiful<\/span><\/a>,\u201d opened at Postmasters Gallery just before nearly all businesses shut their doors. It\u2019s a bittersweet show, one that documents and honors the pre-pandemic vibrancy of local neighborhoods and street life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Mama (Beautiful Skin)<\/em>, 2017. “This is your Mona Lisa,” one collector told the artist.<\/p><\/div>\n

Natal-San Miguel thinks of these images as a response to the famous series \u201c<\/span>Women Are Beautiful<\/span><\/a>,\u201d created by Garry Winogrand in the late 1960s. <\/span><\/p>\n

Those older photos were not exactly diverse. \u201cI found them dated, and they disturbed me, to some extent,\u201d Natal-San Miguel tells Lemonade. \u201cI knew that he was a little intrusive with women, and misogynistic in a way. I wanted to do an update.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Motherhood & The Very First Water Splash<\/em>, 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

Winogrand often photographed women who weren\u2019t aware they were having their picture taken. That\u2019s not Natal-San Miguel\u2019s style. Each of his portraits is the result of a social interaction, a chance meeting during one of the artist\u2019s frequent walks. They\u2019re never staged, and each subject choses how she\u2019d like to pose. \u201cIt\u2019s a very short encounter,\u201d he says, \u201cbut there\u2019s a connection there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Natal-San Miguel never planned to be a photographer. He\u2019s a trained architect. For years he was a financial controller, working a block away from the Twin Towers on 9\/11. That harrowing experience taught him something about <\/span>resiliency<\/span><\/a>, and also shifted his perspective. He\u2019d later relocate from the Upper West Side to Harlem where, for the first time, he was able to leave what he calls the \u201cbubble\u201d of his past life.<\/span><\/p>\n

These photos celebrate a very inclusive and contemporary idea of what it means to be a woman. They\u2019re images of confidence, fierceness, and pride.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Taking photographs was an easy way to engage with his new neighborhood, documenting a part of the city that he already knew was changing rapidly. While he had been a collector of photography for a while\u2014buying work by people like <\/span>Bruce Davidson<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Helen Levitt<\/span><\/a>\u2014he struggled to find images that reflected the inspiring city life all around him. \u201cNobody was making what I wanted to see,\u201d he explains. \u201cI said: \u2018I\u2019m going to make it myself.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, The End of Day Is a Drag (Halal Food)<\/em>, 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

Natal-San Miguel credits his family\u2019s background in Puerto Rican politics for how easy it is for him to meet new people and strike up friendships. \u201cI\u2019m very blessed, because people trust me,\u201d he says. \u201cMaybe they see that I\u2019m not a bullshitter, and I\u2019m not out to exploit them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The photos in \u201cWomen R Beautiful\u201d celebrate a very inclusive and contemporary idea of what it means to be a woman. They\u2019re images of confidence, fierceness, and pride. As Natal-San Miguel has continued to shoot in New York, his project\u2019s ambitions have grown. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI realized there was a responsibility,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt was more than just taking photos that I wanted to take for my own personal satisfaction. It became a social responsibility, a way to redeem myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“Women R Beautiful” is on view at Postmasters Gallery through July 11. The images will likely travel in the near future to another institution, and will be published as a book in spring 2021. In the meantime, check out more of Natal-San Miguel’s stunning portraits below.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, White Magic Voodoo Priestess<\/em>, 2016.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, 3 Muslim Girls, 2019. “Unposed, but framed perfectly, this image captures such an amazing moment of camaraderie, beauty and power,” says Magda Sawon of Postmasters Gallery.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Beauty Make Up Check, 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Emily, 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Carlos (Very Bad Husband), 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Puerto Rican photographer Ruben Natal-San Miguel uses his camera to capture what\u2019s delightful, unexpected, and heroic about the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":8598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"puppies_section":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"post-hentry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThese Photos Will Remind You of What Makes New York City Great<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Puerto Rican photographer Ruben Natal-San Miguel uses his camera to capture what\u2019s delightful, unexpected, and heroic about the city.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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