What is your personal connection to photographing this particular location?

In 2013, I befriended two Panamanians from Colón who have lived in New York since the 90's. What began as conversations about our shared experiences of Panama quickly morphed into something else. I learned that the majority of the Panamanian diaspora in New York City came from Colón. I was simultaneously intrigued and bewildered by that; I grew up in Panama City, only an hour away from Colón, but the life they described in Colón sounded totally foreign to me. So in August 2013, I went to the city of Colón for the first time and was immediately captivated by its formidable architecture.

Colón is a deteriorating with disintegrating buildings and infrastructure yet there's a liveliness to your images because color is a prominent theme in your portrait of the city--what role did color play in the way you photographed the city?

Through the crumbling infrastructure and facades of Colón, it is amazing how color still pervades. It is present in all corners of the city, and if you look close enough, you almost forget the decay that surrounds you and can imagine how imposing it once was.

How did you reconcile the remnants of the Colón that once was, and the Colón that now exists through your photography?

I think that it is through photographing both the city's decline and its vibrant colors and unique architecture that I can reconcile its past with its present.

WCW Questionnaire

Describe your creative process in one word
Spontaneity.

If you could teach a one-hour class on anything, what would it be?
Anything? How to make the perfect popcorn.

What was the last book or film that inspired you?
Book: Love, Africa by Jeffrey Gettleman
Film: I Am Not a Witch, Rungano Nyoni

What is the most played song in your library?
Tough question! It varies from month to month. But I would have to say it is a three way tie between any song from Manu Chao, Rubén Blades, and The Beatles.

How do you take your coffee?
Black.