ARTIST TALK: MARCO YUNGA TACURI

January 26, 2023 – 6 to 7pm

Free & Open to the Public

Photographer Marco Yunga Tacuri’s project Los Longos del Barrio – A Portrait Project About Ecuadorian Immigration is on display in the in the Picker Print Gallery at VCP until the end of the month. The Artist Talk will take place at VCP on Thursday January 26th at 6:00, at VCP.

“This project attempts to tell a story through images about the life of many Ecuadorian immigrants living in New York. The majority of the people portrayed in the first part of this project are friends and relatives of mine who, like me, left our hometowns and families in Ecuador a few decades ago to seek better opportunities in the U.S. In our youth in Ecuador, we were often pejoratively called “los longos del barrio”- roughly translated as “the crud of the neighborhood” – by people who believed they were superior because of their class and race. I would like to reclaim this phrase “Los Longos del Barrio” as a way of asserting our existence and identity through this project of portraits. 

As an immigrant myself, who was once undocumented, I believe that through this project, I will be able to open up a dialogue about the complexities of being an immigrant in this country, especially while undocumented. With this project, I believe I can create a bridge between those who, decades ago, left our home country and never got the opportunity to see each other again.”