The Project

Así Somos | Who We Are, created by Ada Nivia López and Mark Joseph, is a collection of uplifting photos and short bilingual essays representing ten years of work and hundreds of interviews and conversations. Ada Nivia López—an educator, policy maker, and community leader born in Puerto Rico and raised in Chicago—directed and scripted the essays while internationally renowned photographer, Mark Joseph, from Chicago, captured the images in 38 cities through the United States and Puerto Rico.

The concept for Así Somos | Who We Are came to López in March 2003 after reading a National Geographic magazine pictorial entitled “True Colors: Divided Loyalties in Puerto Rico”. The focus and photojournalism within the story was skewed and negative, portraying life in Puerto Rico as dismal, bleak, and drug-ridden. She felt this misrepresentation should be rectified by capturing photos reflecting the Puerto Rican cultural heritage.

The project culminated in the book Así Somos | Who We Are which was published in 2014 in conjunction with a widely-attended exhibit at the Museo de las Américas in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, which ran through March 2015.

Along with Who We Are | Black Culture in Chicago, Así Somos | Who We Are is a component of the Who We Are | National Project, a 501 C-3 dedicated to informing and enriching the understanding of all people, inspiring their embrace of a shared human experience using photography.

Watch Ada Nivia López and Mark Joseph discuss the genesis of the Así Somos project:

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