PHOTOGRAPHER RICARDO MUNIZ CELEBRATES LATINO PRIDE IN GAY PUBLICATION

One of the things I have noticed and have been quite irritated about mainstream gay magazines is the lack of color featured on their covers and inside their magazines.

Photographer Ricardo Muniz contributed his work to the latest issue of NEXT magazine, which showcases the eclectic cultural backgrounds of his subjects. Models featured in the issue include Enrique Cardona, Deilín Sanz, José Massa, Adalid Escamilla Cruz, and Luís Rozay, which show the models body painted with the colors of the Dominican, Mexican, and Puerto Rican cultures. The spread is meant to celebrate the Latin male.

Here is what Ricardo had to say about his visual aesthetic and celebrating latino pride:

The majority of my work is culturally based: I focus on models of color, designers of color, and artists of color. I was a social worker and educator before I became an artist, so there's a "message" or a "lesson" to be learned in all of my work. At least that's what I think. As a photographer, I'm not about creating a fantasy fashion editorial in a studio with killer images that aren't true to life. I'm more about walking around the neighborhood and finding the hidden beauty in plain sight that people ignore or take for granted. This is why a lot of my work isn't perfectly lit or a lot of my subjects aren't "perfect" agency models. I think the imperfections are what make us beautiful. As a photographer, I document more than I edit. Most people who model or work with me are people I just meet on the street. Honestly. Ask them.


Hence, any story I tell (photograph/paint/author/sculpt/perform) is about the beauty in imperfections. Because Latinos are the brown people lumped together as one despite the fact we are very politically and culturally diverse, a lot of my stories are about showing the shades, the colors of our skin AND the shades, and colors of our beliefs.

This story published today in NEXT Magazine, was originally going to be a story about Puerto Rican pride. It has grown into something just a little bit bigger.

This is my little political and art tribute to "El Dia de la Raza" celebrated throughout Latin America as "The Day of Our Race" and in the US as both "Columbus Day" and "Native American Day." This is my story about America. This is my story about our Latino America.-Ricardo Muniz


The latino male should always be celebrated, and not just seen as some stereotypical sexual fetish. Check out more pics featured in the Dyed In Wool editorial below...