Last nap in their first home.
Next stop: Seoul, Korea.
In Memoriam: Deyvid “Wolf” García
A few years back in Central Park I met Deyvid “Wolf” Garcia. He was a fresh-faced kid of sixteen with amazing athletic ability and the kindest, most generous heart. I saw him perched high up on a tree branch, lost in thought, looking out over the expanse of the Great Meadow. Later that day, I saw him again putting himself through a rigorous Parkour drill. Even then, he was already relentlessly pushing his body to the limit. He was also absolutely fearless in an almost terrifying way.
We struck up a conversation. I shot some photos, which I sent to him later that day. He loved them and over the next few years we would get together once in a while to shoot and hang out. Without exception, Deyvid drew a crowd of admirers wherever he went. Young women lingered with shy smiles and kids looked at him with the awe reserved for super heroes. He was never less than gracious and kind to anyone who approached him.
Last Saturday, at age 24, Deyvid suffered a fatal fall while doing what he loved best: defying gravity and braving the unknown. I heard the news from a fellow photographer and have not been able to stop thinking of his brave, beautiful soul.
He will be missed.
Book Publication: The Street Becomes
Once upon a time there was an Artist in Residence at the Smithsonian…
I’m so pleased to share that my project "The Street Becomes" will be published this Spring/Summer by Meteoro Editions in Amsterdam. Previous to signing on with Meteoro, the book dummy for the project was a Finalist in three international competitions: Getxo Photo Open Call (Getxo, Spain), Fiebre Photobook Festival (Madrid, Spain) and FELIFA (Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Also, in 2017 a selection of works was presented by El Museo del Barrio as part of the exhibition “nasty women / bad hombres”. In 2018 twenty four works from the series where exhibited at the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno in Guatemala. Most recently, the series was a Winner of the 2020 Urbanautica Institute Awards: https://urbanautica.com/portfolio/the-street-becomes/862
“The Street Becomes" explores the changing character of the urban street in times of war and peace. This body of work is entirely based on archival images, which I've repurposed and transformed aesthetically for the purposes of my project.
The book is available for preorder from Meteoro. There are two special editions available as well, which include a copy of the book plus a single print or a diptych from the series: https://meteoroeditions.com/The-Street-Becomes-J-Permuth
Thank you as always for your continued support and belief in my work, it means the world to me!
When night falls…
and you dream of yourself, are you wearing a mask?
Orange in the snow
A few weeks back, a most unusual hibernation took hold of them.
Luca and Olin have always been wanderlust babies and ‘fernweh’ will probably be their first tattoo. For them, a day without stepping outdoors is a day wasted. Their expressions darken and they cry when we can’t leave home. Or at least they used too. These days it takes all kinds of slyness and subterfuge to get them into their winter jackets and onto their double-decker stroller.
HRM joked with me that our latest home stay had gone on longer than any Covid quarantine. Yesterday, as a last ditch effort, I showed them a picture of a Ford Mustang buried in the snow and told them it was still there, waiting for their visit. The gamble payed off and miraculously we were off in search of their favorite sports car. The whole way over, I prayed it would still be where I saw it last. Mercifully, it was. And it was also clear of snow. They stared in awe as it sparkled in the morning light. I took one look at it and wished it was ours and we were about turn the key and hit the road.
Then I heard the voice, just over my right shoulder, saying to me: “It’s yours for $50,000, my friend”.
Three little birds
Like most days these days, we spent Valentine’s Day at home. I stepped out to get some lunch from our favorite Dominican lechonera: heaping plates of roast chicken, yellow rice, pinto beans and fried plantains. After eating, I taught Luca and Olin the lyrics to Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”, which they can now sing back to us by heart.
It was only much later, after putting the kids to bed, that I had a chance to steal a kiss from my wife.
Latinx photography in the United States
It’s nice to give and receive sweets on Valentine’s but nothing is sweeter than seeing your work in print. Elizabeth Ferrer’s new anthology of Latinx photography in the USA is a gem and an invaluable resource for this field of studies.
I’m so proud to be represented by two bodies of work: YONKEROS and The Street Becomes, my new monograph which is forthcoming this year from Meteoro Editions in Amsterdam.
Roe vs Olin
Yesterday I got my first dose of the Covid vaccine (Moderna). Although I live all the way on the northern tip of Manhattan, the city scheduled me to get my shot on the Lower East Side. So I put on my best mask and made my way across town.
The appointment went without a hitch. As I walked out, it dawned on me that I hadn't visited the LES since March and that I was within striking distance of an old favorite of mine: Russ and Daughters. I made a pit stop to grab some fresh bagels, scallion cream cheese, salmon roe, chocolate covered coconut macaroons, dried fruit and the best sable fish in NYC!
This morning at breakfast I asked the twins to taste the salmon roe. Luca went first, liked it and asked for two more eggs. Olin took his time holding up his one perfect red orb to the light. He looked at it slowly from different angles, like a bearded Hasid carefully appraising a ruby in the Diamond District. Finally, he took one last look, sighed and tossed it away in the direction of the kitchen.
Underground
It had been a couple weeks since I ventured out on the subway. When I switched trains at the next station, I saw three digital screens with portraits of MTA employees displayed in a continuous rotation.
It took me a moment to see the dates underneath them. It took another second to realize there were two dates per portrait and the second one was always 2020. Then I was blinking back the tears. There were so many faces. So many lives cut short by the virus.
Rest in peace 💐
La obscuridad
“ Llega la noche, la obscuridad. Llega el día, la obscuridad. Pero al dormir sueño y veo mi vida plasmada como era anteriormente”.
***
“Night comes, darkness. Day comes, darkness. But asleep I dream and I see my life as it was before”.
Cologne
After Luca and Olin were born, I understood parenthood for the first time: the way it teaches you selflessness and the new joys, anxieties and sacrifices that come with it. I remember my first birthday celebration after the twins arrived and my parents calling early in the morning to sing “Las mañanitas” to me. It became suddenly overwhelming. I tried to explain to them the enormity of what I was feeling as a new father. I wanted them to know that I finally understood what it must have been like for them when they were a young couple starting out on the road of life and welcoming their first son. Words failed me and there were mostly tears of gratitude.
A few days ago I celebrated my birthday again.
I lost my mother back in September and I’ve missed her every day since but especially on that day. I found a flask of cologne she had given me as a gift a few years back. Dabbing some on, I let the memory of her linger with me throughout the day, helping me through as she always did.
El Mago
I stepped out of 2020 like a man crawling out of a car wreck. And yet, I have much to be grateful for, not least that I have work and a family to keep me going.
Olmedini however reached his 80th birthday last week living on his own in city housing, blind and out of work. Hard as I try, I cannot imagine how he endures. But endure he does. I visited with him and brought a little gift along, a “Pyro Wallet” I remembered he was looking for last year at MagiFest. Just for laughs.
These days, he rarely ventures outside the walls of his apartment anymore and hasn’t had a haircut since March. Together we walked the streets of El Barrio, which has been hit hard by the pandemic with its attending health crisis and economic downturn. Even unable to see the hardship with his own eyes, Olmedini felt it in the air and we cut the walk short and headed back home. It was good to catch up with him. More than ever, when I left him I thought of Don Quixote, 'el caballero de la triste figura’.
Believe
Let’s believe in love, work, art, education, science, the natural world, democracy, service and sacrifice, tolerance, equality and solidarity!
Let’s believe in ourselves, each other, our dreams and the possibility of things to come. Happy New Year!
This woman
I got through this god awful year thanks to this woman and the love and life we’ve built together.
Frozen playground
Washington Heights, New York
Ochenta
Hoy está de manteles largos una de las personas que más admiro y quiero en este planeta. Olmedo Rentería, el legendario Olmedini El Mago cumple 80 años.
Respetado mago, desde que nos conocimos han sido incontables las aventuras y los recorridos. Han quedado grabadas algunas de ellas a través de los reportajes del New York Times, Univisión, Telemundo, TV Globo, Genii Magazine y tantos otros canales mediáticos. Nunca olvidaré el homenaje en Yankee Stadium frente a cuarenta mil personas ni su actuación estelar en el MagiFest en Columbus, Ohio. Le deseo hoy y siempre todo lo mejor en la vida.
La fama ya es suya!
***
This man, for whom I have the utmost admiration and affection, turns 80 years old today.
I hope in 2021 we will be able to return once again to the road we had been traveling together for two years. There have been so many adventures and triumphs along the way. Some of them have been chronicled by the New York Times, Univisión, Telemundo, TV Globo, Genii Magazine and many other media outlets. I will never forget the day the NY Yankees honored him and his ceremonial first pitch in front of 40,000 people. Or his stellar performance headlining this year's MagiFest in Ohio. Most of all, I miss spending time together. I wish today I was heading to El Barrio to raise a glass to his health and celebrate!
Explorations
Luca and Olin are deepening their own rhythms and charting spaces for exploration. I find it all endlessly inspiring.
Bubble tea
Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays! Enjoy some bubble tea with your latkes and hope to see you again in person in 2021!
Father and sons
Father and sons
Hardwood
Two years ago it was just a hardwood floor under our sofa.