Carlos

Hello my dear Ana,

Hope this email finds you well.

I´m sending you my work for your beautiful project ¨36 days¨.

Hope you enjoy it!

Title: Sounds of a Vanishing Era: Steam and Diesel

Description:

¨When opening the package it contained a Vynil Record titled “ Railroad Sounds. The Sounds of a Vanishing Era: Diesel and Steam.” I was unsure of how to start, yet the title stayed with me for some days.

I started thinking about my country, Dominican Republic, and i associated the title with our current social and political situation. We, the people, receive a lot of oppression from the state, witnessing corruption on a daily basis. It´s something we are fighting against and speak our minds for it.

With the 36 days project, i present this series of 36 documentary photographs i took in a protest in Santo Domingo due to changes being made in the Constitution, the privatization of public beaches, being one of them. “Sounds of a Vanishing Era” seeks to portray a country not condescending with the newly established laws, putting themselves out there and letting their voices be heard in front of the Dominican National Congress. It was beautiful to see how everyone that attended to protest their rights showed up wearing beach clothing with big umbrellas, playing volleyball and, something very traditional of people in Dominican Republic when going to the beach, food for the whole family (spagetthis, bread, rice, yuca, plantains). Funny picture i saw was a group of police men inside of a bus because of the rain. Apparently they didn´t want to get wet. The things you see...

The audio track in this video is performed and composed by Silvio Rodriguez,a cuban musician who is characteristic for his profound lyrics and revolutionary ideals.

I dedicate this piece to a friend who recently passed away. To Arlincita, a fighter.

-Carlos Rodríguez

The Sounds of a Vanishing Era from Carlos Rt on Vimeo.