Benjamin Bustamante

Benjamin Bustamante is a photographer based in New York City. Benjamin’s work focuses on his lifelong home in Los Angeles. His parents immigrated from Tijuana, Mexico in the 70’s and had 7 children (Benjamin is #5). Benjamin photographs his family and lifelong home in South Los Angeles.

In a time, before smartphones and digital cameras were accessible, Benjamin found very little proof of documentation from his childhood. In spite, he attempts to make up for this by making photographs that not only document life at home, but also capturing growing up first generation born in the US and the effects of losing a parent. In his self published book from 2015 titled, ‘Entre Tus Manos Esta Mi Vida’, he writes, “My mother took care of the house. Actually, she took care of everything while my father worked all day to provide for my family. After my mom passed away in 2008, I watched my family and home fall apart. Over the next couple of years, half of my siblings would move out, leaving me alone with my father and younger twin siblings. My home transformed into a huge mess, and so did I. I watched family photographs come down for painting and never come back up. I watched the change in my family’s diet from home cooked meals to take out every night. These photographs are an attempt to fix everything, and to hide all the imperfections I had to deal with for the last seven years.”