Yvonne Venegas- Lives of Privilege

I forget how I came upon the work of Yvonne Venegas. But it is hard for me to look at some of her photos without a distinct feeling of revulsion welling up inside me- not because of a dislike of her photos, but because they display the lighter skinned, upturned nasal cavities of the rich and privileged classes so prevalent throughout Hispanic America. And that's just from my experience in Puerto Rico, where economic and social class and standing is to this day still very much predicated on skin color, hair, facial features, etc. (as in all Latin/South American countries).

Of course, Ms. Venegas is much more discreet and professional than to be so heavy handed in her imagery. But it's all there for those who care to see, and it doesn't take much to realize that their lives of conspicuous consumption occur on islands of comfort and segregation surrounded by the most deplorable social and economic conditions of inequality that serve in large part to uphold theirs.