Cenita: Making Your Own Table
A roundtable discussion where fellow BIPOC visual directors talk about their experiences in the photo & design industry.
Disclaimer: Since our conversation, Latine/x has been used to describe a person of Latin American descendants or origin (used as a gender-neutral or nonbinary alternative to Latino or Latina). In this conversation, we use Latine to describe all, but we understand that everyone has their own choices in describing themselves. For consistency, we will say Latine (or Latinx) to refer to la comunidad.
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Behind many, if not all, of my decisions, are the statistics and probability of someone like me succeeding, but more specifically, in a creative leadership space—it isn't very likely.
A statistic released by USA Today in 2022 showed that Latina women hold less than 2% of executive leadership positions in the S&P 100. In March 2023, The LA Times reported that 18.9% of the US population is Latino, while only 3.6% of the directors on boards of 3,000 of the largest US public companies are Latine. While writing this, no recent stats show how many Latine women are in creative business leadership or the photo and design space, but we can all envision how low that percentage is.
Latine creative professionals are clustered amongst the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community and those who have been historically underrecognized; however, the stats for Latine representation are scarce or non-existent. Creative professionals aiming high and climbing up the creative leadership ladder (Creatives, Photo, Design, Visual or Art Directors and Editors) say it’s a solo journey, a complex, multi-faceted battle, every step ascending. Generally, Latine creative professionals in positions of power inadvertently become monolithic, telling the story on behalf of one of the most complex and underrepresented communities in the US, drowning under pressure without support.
In response to the feedback I gathered through Cafecito, I looked for visual directors to help the creatives hear their experiences. How can we, as visual directors and editors who can help, support them? The conversation quickly immediately shifted where are the BIPOC visual directors”?
Cenita (“little dinner” in Spanish) started to discuss the experiences of BIPOC visual directors and editors. Even my search for Latine directors yielded limited results. Where are the Latine creatives who can make the decisions in the rooms that matter?
In September 2022, the following conversation included a group of Latine visual directors with varying levels of experience: Valentina, with 6+ years in the design industry; Evan & Amanda, mid to senior-level positions; and Leonor, with 17+ years in the photo industry. Leonor, Evan & Amanda are currently on the same creative team.
Food is a non-verbal language that communicates a culture’s history and heritage. As a Peruvian-American, food introduces our culture before we can speak. It is a common thread among generations, each amending the cuisine to pass on to their descendants. My dad, Marcos, catered the dinner. We ate papa rellena and Talleries Verdes, and guests brought food that connected to them; flan, a NYC pizza, empanadas, and arepas.
Cenita is inspired by the conversations of hardships at the table; we ideate while sharing stories and how we listen to them. This time at the table is a pause from everything else in the day, bringing your energy to safety as we sit down for a meal and then leave satisfied, fueled, and full.
Following dinner, we dove right in.
Cenita One: featuring Valentina Vergara, Evan Ortiz, Leonor Mamanna, and Amanda Savinon
The Workplace
I'm really happy to have this chat with all of you. I’d love to open the floor and talk about how your journeys have been, what got you here, and also moments that you felt you had to pave the way for others or what you have done in your career to help the Latine community.
Leonor Mamanna: It took a long time for me to realize how alone I was as a Latina in the community, which is a weird thing to say because some of the first stories that I was able to work on at my first job, I worked on because they were Latin-American based stories where they needed somebody who spoke Spanish. As somebody who grew up bilingual, I was panicking because it’s so different talking to my grandparents versus having to carry on a professional conversation. I already felt like an outsider because I didn't study photography and I already had a chip on my shoulder about it so it all meshed together. It took me a really long time to be in a position to be able to mentor and support other photo editors of color. It took me a really long time to get there because I felt so alone not just because of being a Latina, but because I was always nervous that I was going to be “found out” for not having the appropriate experience anyway. There are layers and levels to all of it.
What do you feel are the hardest lessons of being that Latine creative in the room even now or back then? I know that you briefly touched on when you started working in photography, but how is it now that you've seen this shift in the movement?
Leonor: It’s so different looking back now because now if I was the person I am today – [in] a lot of those situations I feel like I could have said something, and it's always like that, right? When you're the only one in the room for so long. Ten years ago, comments like “being exotic” would fly. I was the only Latina in the room and I’m white-presenting. So people feel safe to say shit like that. I look back on it now, and I cannot believe that anybody let that slide and that I let it slide even though I know why; I wasn't in a position of power.
I was the only one and the idea that I was going to stand up to my boss and say “that's inappropriate” and have to try to explain why that's inappropriate. But, there's such a sense of shame that I didn't do it then. That's the thing that I've really been wrestling with. I've moved on but I'm like fuck all those missed opportunities to call people out on their shit even though logically, I know why. It's just really hard when those things echo in your head.
“I'm supposed to be in a privileged place at work” because I'm the first person in my family to get a college degree [and] do a lot of the things that I'm doing now and it's supposed to be a good thing. So why are certain dynamics in this space that I'm in not easy?”
Evan: My entryway towards my creative career was by listening to what the expectations are or how things have been. That is sometimes problematic because when you don't realize the full picture of what those expectations are, what they can do, that comments that [colleagues] say at work, practices that in the workspace with culture, and how you talk to and treat one another. Those things don't matter, because [they] don't have the reference for it, so that perpetuates a problem. I came into my career at a unique place, there were global things happening that helped me get some perspective. I also had my own discomfort in it, like what Leonor said about feeling and being alone, realizing “what do I do with that? What do I do with these hard feelings because I feel like I'm supposed to be in a privileged place at work” because I'm the first person in my family to get a college degree [and] do a lot of the things that I'm doing now and it's supposed to be a good thing. So why are certain dynamics in this space that I'm in not easy?
A conversation like this one right now is one of the solutions because it doesn't make me feel alone and it helps me understand better. The things that have been shared already will continue to be talked about tonight. Now, how can I use that to help me advance and bring more respect, equality, and support in these fields that we work in? I think that the theme of community and teamwork is really important to me, as a Latine professional, as a creative professional, and just as a person.
Amanda: I am grateful for the struggle in my career because it propelled me into a healing space where looking for something outside wasn't enough. I said to myself “What can I do to feel more comfortable in these spaces? How can I work within myself for this to not be so heavy on me, going to a place five days a week and being there 10 hours a day.”
I'll give you a perfect example. I'm one of Leonor’s mentees, and we met at New York Mag. I was interning there and she was a Photo Editor like kick ass and that was my first look into this space. I have a BFA in photography and you think you're supposed to take a photo and sell it, and then you're good, remember that? If you don't, then you suck!
I ping-ponged between computer graphics and photography because I’m not going to make money [in photography]. In computer graphics, someone always needs a logo. I can do it and then I’ll go back. Even through my junior year, where I’m like “no, photography is what I like”, I ultimately did.
When I went to New York Mag, I was like wow, there are so many things you can do with photo – photo editing, photo retouching, producing photos, and also photography and whatever else, casting and managing a studio; so many things that go into it. That was a nice opening into what the photo world is, but I'll tell you why I'm so grateful for the struggle and how it propelled me to healing, and what I can do within myself.
I met Leonor and she was just incredible in helping me. We didn't work directly too much together but towards the end, she asked “where's your resume?” I told her I don't have it with me. She's like, okay go home and find your resume and send it to me. This was the last day of my internship and Leonor was [telling me] go home, get your resume, send it to me, and then we'll see what we can do kind of keep it going to see where we can get your next internship.
I went home, and I will never forget this because of how much I beat myself up. But I was like, “does she mean it? I don't think she meant it. I think I'm gonna be bothering her but what if I sent it to her? Does this look good?” I looked at it and I’m like, she didn't mean she probably says it to like everyone that comes by. Not knowing that she was Latina at that time, half Argentinian. But even then I would not have understood even if she was Latina, she was still at a higher place. It just looked and felt different for me. “I don't think she meant to I'm not going to send it”
“I get very emotional about this stuff as I don't talk about it often, but it's what I've been doing my whole life, twelve years now. I'm grateful for the people that get to places before we do that are of us. I'm also grateful for the fight that made me.”
The day and the day after I said to myself I don't think so it's fine. Let me not do it and see if she pings me to send it again. I sent a thank you email and [Leonor] said it again, and basically, I never did. Our photography careers crossed paths and it's been amazing since. I've been a product of what took her so long to get to and just my inner thinking: “I'm a burden, I don't want to be too much. I gotta stay quiet”. I stay low-key to not bother. I’m thankful for the struggle; I was in all these places and it was really hard.
I feel my throat tightening up I get very emotional about this stuff as I don't talk about it often, but it's what I've been doing my whole life, twelve years now. I'm grateful for the people that get to places before we do that are of us. I'm also grateful for the fight that made me.
Valentina, we’ve been talking a lot about photography, but would love to know more about your experience. Representation has a lot of importance within visual communications. Photography does a lot for representation, whereas I feel like design does a lot of the groundwork of helping people understand that from a contextual space.
Valentina: Hearing you [all] talk is really inspirational because I've never had a Latinx/Latine mentor. I'm four years into my career and switching to art direction. I went to an art High School in Miami so I was surrounded by a lot of Latinx/Latine people while I was experimenting with graphic design at the age of 16. I was very quiet because of a lot of the reasons that you've [all] been brought up.When I came to New York, I was one of the few Latinx/Latine people in the room at Pratt Institute which is a very expensive school. At the time I was filling out FAFSA with my mom we had no idea what any of it meant. I remember being like, “oh, there's a grant, we don't have to pay that back, A loan, I probably don’t have to pay that back. I was so adamant on coming to New York and said I'm going to take out however many loans, and I got here.
It was a culture shock. Even though I have found a bigger Latinx/Latine community being here for 8 years, design is still extremely white. Design is rooted in Bauhaus, European standards that luckily now everybody is starting to question and trying to decolonize. We’ve ingrained it into our brains tha at this point I don't want to talk theory about design because honestly, fuck it. Let's just create our new things.
But I also have a lot of hope because the younger generations, [my] 17-year-old brother in college right now and he’s 10x more plugged into all of these conversations that we're having. There's a lot to learn from the younger generations, but the impact of a mentor and what you're doing here. These Cafecitos that [Nicole] is having, I wish I had eight years ago.
“Even though there is a big Latinx/Latine community in the space that I want, design is extremely white. Design is rooted in Bauhaus, European standards that now everybody's trying to decolonize. We’ve ingrained it into our brains tha at this point I don't want to talk theory about design because honestly, fuck it. Let's just create our new things.”
Amanda: Let's not talk about the “If I would have known then what I know now” because right now my follow-up is crazy. If somebody told me, “Hey, ask me where I am - I couldn't do that before” I would even question "oh, maybe this is not real.”
Leonor: I liked that I asked [Amanda] twice though. I know because in those days I was working 15-hour days, every day, I didn't take vacations back then. I was always there; in the morning, when people left, and because I knew. Yeah, I knew.
Amanda: And I was just like “why? Like, why me? Is it a genuine interest? Like what? You know, I'm just in college; it's just an internship.” I couldn't wrap my head around why someone would be interested in me even though I was already at the place. I got the internship, I'm there, and even that coming from CUNY School at Lehman's I lived in the Bronx. I'm already out in New York Mag downtown doing this thing, and I still just couldn't wrap my head around why there was room for me or why someone wanted to make room for me.
Leonor: And that's funny because I was a New York kid, I went to a state school and I [knew] we needed more of us, you know what I mean?
Amanda: Yeah, you saw that so long ago. Now it's a lot different, which is good. I've been the token person in many places and it's been uncomfortable.
Skin tones and Accents
Amanda: One thing that has really bothered me and never really spoken about is accents. I have an accent. I've heard it and I only know that because I've heard it so much, not because I hear it myself in my ears right now. But [because] I've heard it so much,
“Oh, where are you from? You have an accent”
“New York from the Bronx”.
”Yeah, but most of your family from where you're from?”
“Dominican Republic”
Ay Dominicana! or whatever. Having an accent in a corporate workplace in New York is weird because you say one thing that's so simple to you and people are so impressed, “well, that's a great idea!” or “what a word that you used!” that makes others surprised by what I said because of what it sounds like. I felt good about it at times but that was always something that kind of went in and out and I observed and kept moving because you can't do much about it.
These conversations haven't been out there. They're not popular. It's not something I can tune into a podcast about there are so many out there and I'm pretty sure something comes close, but not this [sic] that's just something I wanted to throw on the table.
Speaking about uncomfortable conversations in the workplace, Fast Company came out with a survey in 2021 about how 70% of Latino professionals with darker skin tones believe that if their skin complexions were a different tone, they would advance further in their careers. More than half, or 60%, of Latino professionals, would prefer a mentor who looked more like them and 37% of Latino professionals surveyed said they were considering leaving their jobs. I'm curious to hear your perspectives on those numbers, 70%, that's big.
Evan: I'm Afro Latino, I'm Puerto Rican. I can pass off as Latino or I can pass off as Black. Some folks don't know and can't tell. One thing I was thinking about with your question and that data is how much energy it takes to feel like you stick out because you stick out literally with skin color in a work situation.
I often feel that I have to be ten times as mindful of what I do, how I say everything, to feel like I am doing an adequate amount of work. It's so exhausting. I know I share with everyone here and other folks of color and Latinx folks in their professional industries.
I'm naturally a hard worker and I enjoy it; I get a lot of pleasure from being ambitious. But I didn't realize for the first half of my career, how unsustainable it was to be ambitious then also add the extra 50% of that because of what I noticed. I feel that chameleon metaphor, noticing folks in workspaces making normal healthy slip-ups and/or maybe being inappropriate or not being productive with the team in ways that were forgiven pretty quickly and pretty easily and then thinking about myself, I’m doing my best and feeling “okay, I did this, this, this, this times a billion” and it's fine, there's no comment. It's a lot of weight and energy and just because I might have a distinct awareness of inequities doesn't mean that it's free. It doesn't mean that it comes out of me with no expense at all.
For people like us who are doing and thinking about that, it does take time and it's hard when you don't get the recognition, or specifically, the compensation for it because it is a lot of work and it should be compensated.
We have to strive to do 200% at all times. Many people in the creative industry don't realize that we give it our all because we're so afraid of it being taken away. We worked so hard to be in that space.
Evan: Right now, the beauty and gift of this hard time period are that more folks are speaking up. We are having these conversations right now. I'm curious for everyone - what is it mean and have you had ways where you've been speaking up for yourself that you might not have before and what does that feel or what has that been like?
I'm in a place today where I can have a grounded ability to ask for what I need. But it's also really hard still, it's not always supposed to be easy, but I feel like sometimes I'm like do my non-BIPOC team members have to feel this way when they're asking for what they need or is it just me? I'm curious about what that means for you all.
Valentina: Yeah-I feel what you are saying. I had a recent situation happen to me where I had a really hard time speaking up about problems I was having at work and felt like it had a lot to do with a lack of gender diversity. As one of the few women on a predominantly male team, it often feels like I’m the only one who has my back and because I’m younger in a space with older people, they respect me less.
In the past few years, there's a lot of anger that's been coming up for me. Instead of letting that anger sink me, I use that and think “What am I getting out of it? What am I losing from telling a boss or colleague that they're disrespecting me by talking down to me in front of my colleagues and like just not addressing me in the same way that they would address a man.”
I think that's just helped me get out of my shell and realize if I upset them and if I lose my job, at least I have my dignity and I'm doing something maybe not only for me, but for the next person that comes. That's how I feel about it right now.
Amanda: I'm still very scared to ask for things at work because maybe someone else is not asking and I am — this is bad. I don't want to be the problem person, “what do you need now?”, you know? It’s inspiring and slightly annoying to see other people be like, “This is what I want. I'm just like what do I need? what do you think? this works, Alright, done”.
For me, I have to talk to myself so much before I even decide that it's a thing that I want and that it's okay to want something. I am still working through that. Even though I've come, I feel like my life is just starting, some of these things I feel are lifelong. Hopefully, not in this way. But yes there are so many things that I took early on in my career that I still apply, that I want to revisit and edit. Like you said, we have to work 200 times harder than anyone else.
I was just picturing myself right now, a young me like taking notes where it's if you have a question, think about it and solve it before you ask anyone or take initiative and be efficient. Do the most you possibly can before asking for help.
How do we continue to show up and get a seat at the table? Is it necessary to get a seat or do we even need it? We don't need to be relying on trying to get into those rooms, how do we continue to build it for ourselves?
For the longest time, I wanted to just get a seat at the table and nobody wanted to invite me, still feel that way. You go to networking events, to the talks, talk to people, try to connect, and in photography, there's a lot of gatekeeping. But this is what Cenita is, we have our own seat at their own table.
What can Latine communities do in order to continue building themselves and help one another? There are a lot more Latine creatives out there; producers, designers, creatives, art directors, and creative directors that just haven't been speaking up. Everybody's a little bit afraid or they just don't want to share the wealth because I think that they're so afraid that they're going to lose their own space.
Valentina: What you just said, the fear of multiple Latinx/Latine or BIPOC people sitting at the same table. That's a big thing that everybody has to overcome, and I think with every generation, we are overcoming it more and more. It’’s also not just about getting your own seat at the table, it's about taking up space and inviting other marginalized folks to come sit next to you.
“The fear of multiple Latine or BIPOC people sitting at the same table. That's a big thing that everybody has to conquer, and I think people are conquering it now. It's not just I can, I'm the only woman here. lt’s more like no, you're like making eye contact with other women on your team, we're buddies.”
Your own table and what you’ve built! How do both of you, [Amanda and Evan] feel being in that position, does that give you more advantage of hiring more diverse creative, more diverse sets from the ground up?
Evan: I don't want to sit at that table, I want to blow up the table and I want to make my own table. Our current systems are broken. It's kind of like a cake - you can’t unmake a cake, you have to make a new cake. This evening is one of those new cake ingredients.
This is very unique for me. These things happen in different forms. I'm Puerto Rican and Afro-Latino, but I don't speak fluent Spanish. I feel like I have such a large disconnect to my culture because I don't speak Spanish and my parents didn't teach it to me. I went to a college that was mostly white and I feel like my cultural identity is shattered in ways. It's really unique for me to be at this specific Cenita that is Latine-focused.
I'm gonna cry about this later and process it because I've been doing a lot of work to heal my racial identity. There's still the part of me that deals with the specific Latino parts, you know, that I'm still not working on just yet. But, I feel like I have one piece that's a little closer [sic] I'm grateful for that. and I'm grateful for you all tonight.
Latine, Latino, Latinas, Latinx…La Communidad
All of us can agree with the complexities of being Latine. It's like how “Latin Are you?” There was a point when I got older where I came to my identity. I love being Latina. I've always loved being Latina. I wasn't accepted in the community in a way because I feel like I grew up in such a different environment and then a different identity but even in the moments of celebrating my heritage, I don't feel like I connect.
Leonor: Is that interesting because [Evan] has that feeling, [Nicole] has that feeling? I have that feeling. And how different are the three of us? We're all from different places and you don't speak Spanish and I speak Spanish, you know what I mean? We’re all on completely different points on the “Latino graph”, and we still all have that same commonality. It's such a crazy shared experience for something that we're all like, we don't belong, right? It’s such a mindfuck.
What defines a “Latinx/Latine”?
Valentina: I'm always thinking about how Latinx was created by America. We're all from different places. But we all Latin, the language. Who made these terms? Why do you not feel comfortable taking this term that some person came up with to box in like, a specific thing?
Leonor: There’s the larger academic discourse around the term. It’s also been adopted by the queer community (Latine). I don't use Latinx because I'm not part of that community. I'm Latina and that's just how it is. To me, its the same as pronouns; if you choose to describe yourself as Latinx, then I will describe you as Latinx.
Evan: I identify as Afro-Latino because I feel like growing up I had a very strong understanding of me being Puerto Rican, Latino Spanish. Puerto Ricans have a lot of prejudice. My dad is light-skinned and my mom is dark-skinned and my relatives, aunts, and uncles, will have little conflicts about the darker-skinned relatives who are also Puerto Rican. So I repressed the black parts of me, but Evan today is like hell no, I strongly identify with my black side and the black parts of my culture, but also I am still Latino. So I say Afro-Latino, and that fits me.
I wonder what would be the Latine community or the Latinidad phrase for ourselves. We're still so disconnected, it's always been like that because of colorism and discrimination.
Valentina: We're also from different countries because there are so many different cultures coming together.The US sees us as “oh, they speak Spanish”.
There are so many [subcategories of Latine] in every kind of capacity, barely stretching the surface. That's what makes it harder to find people because as we all mentioned, not all Latinos or Latinas or Latine, or Latinx will define themselves like that. Everyone is individualizing themselves. On my own profile, I’m Peruvian-American and I'm very proud of my heritage, our heritage is so distinct from one another that I'm proud to talk about that vs. the overall community. It makes it hard to find people, it makes it hard to connect in ways because what are we basing this community on.
A Seat at Cenita
How do we get others a seat at the table? Do we have to figure out a way to kind of merge each other in a way I feel like these conversations are important?
Amanda: This same conversation that we're having right now my advice is to get a seat at the table would be to just ease, chill, relax, breathe in and out. I've been in survival mode my whole entire life. I'm only now getting out of I'm 33. Not out of it but working with it; just relax.
If there's a table like this and it's full of the people you want to be around, you want to sit there, sit wherever. Take in all these things, this conversation that we've just had is about how we feel about who we are; not who we're not, who we are and like how we feel. Have that conversation with yourself or not, take a moment and then breathe in and out, then go and grab your chair, you just sit down, and then you let other people deal with their inner thoughts with their own disbelief that you're at that table with their own.
“Oh my god, and you're their own thing of like this exotic person that has an accent and is here and can't believe that” You just ease in. It would probably be my advice for your last question about how to get in is that our inner fight is not helping us anymore. It definitely is not helping me. I realized that I was the only one that was gonna stop it.
I was at all these places; Vogue, GQ, Teen Vogue, Refinery29, Dailymail, Bloomberg and como no encajava (like it didn't fit) like enzymes or whatever go together like no, I was like, okay, and like it wasn't really fulfilling to me and it was me just standing in my own way. Nothing just felt enough because [I questioned] “What do I do? I belong here”, then imposter syndrome, being looked down on, and being the token, my accent, being afraid to ask for things while other people just do it with so much ease. I realized I had to go within myself, there definitely is an outer issue. We know that. But let's do what we can here and then we can probably come out with a little more like, yeah, I don't know, pep in our step.
Leonor: Also on a very practical level. It's like, we need to ID each other. We need to find each other to bring people to the table. [Nicole] and I met through Marvin Orellana. Two weeks before that when I saw your posts, I sent it to Evan because I was like “Evan needs to be a part of this but also Amanda needs to be a part of this”. I'm now at a place where I'm not going nowhere without my people, let's go! We have to know who those people are. I have, for lack of a better metaphor, I got a lot of room in my car, who is ready to go and who can we bring along?
We've been trying to connect with more Latine creatives but we have less than 50. We have less than 11 [Art Directors], half of them, Leonor and I were wondering where they were working.
Leonor: I know seven of them personally. There has to be more out there and the struggle is real.
“I'm now at a place where I'm not going nowhere without my people, let's go! We have to know who those people are. I have, for lack of a better metaphor, I got a lot of room in my car, who is ready to go and who can we bring along?”
Evan: Thank you Amanda for talking about easing in because it's so true. There are certain things that are out of my control. I can't change capitalism, I can't change the larger system, and I'm going to have to deal with it for the rest of my life because, unfortunately, that's what it is.
I feel like I've done that but then also like giving myself a break. Give myself kindness and compassion. I'll be quite frank; this morning I woke up and felt so shitty, sad, I'm doing everything wrong, and I'm failing at work.
Then I was just like, You know what? It's okay that I feel like that. It's okay if I feel sad, tired or exhausted – that's not wrong. That's just one part of my human experience. I don't need to fight, so I can chill with it and then transition on to my day. I just thought of your comment, Amanda.
This table that [Nicole] made is the perfect example to create what we are talking about. I have done the things you've shared, I had been in these networking things where it's saying let's try to make things diverse and it's the same people are saying the same conversation, and then guess what happens? Nothing. I think when you invite a change, a unique way, an inclusive way, together instead of the other direction, that's where this magic comes from, at least from what I'm seeing. So I just wanted to say thank you.
Paying it forward: Questions for the next Cenita and Closing Thoughts
What would you want to hear from the next Cenita? We're keeping the conversation going and growing; this conversation isn't just going to be at this table.
Amanda: For me, the best part of my job right now is that I have the ability and the resources, so that will diversify the photo space by the photographers that I hire and the sets that I create. My question I would want to hear from other Cenita attendees would be, “What's your favorite part of your job right now? You being who you are, and knowing what you know, now and why.”
Evan: What's one way you can foster community within the BIPOC in creative professional industries in the next year?
Valentina: I'm interested in how we're all from different cultures. Are you interested in the preservation of your culture in your visual or artistic practice and do you pull those specific references that are only interesting to you and bring them to the mainstream? That’s very important to diversify our industries.
Leonor: How are you working towards identifying and looping in the next-gen? Because that’s important.
Amanda: That will make so many of us reflect, “what am I doing?” Oh, if nothing, then let's wake up tomorrow and do something you know. And if I can let me call somebody that I know is in a better position and suggest that they do this or that or let's collaborate.
Leonor: Let's figure out how
Amanda: Exactly! There's always something that we can do. The table I want to be at is this table and I want to invite so many. You can sit with us. You are all invited
Nicole: Well, thank you so much. That's a wrap everybody. Salute
Our Cenita was hosted September 2022. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
👯🕺🕺The Crew!👯🕺🕺
👏Leonor Mamanna
Began working as the photo assistant at The New York Times Magazine, and then subsequently freelanced at Men's Vogue, GQ, Money Magazine, and more, followed by New York Magazine and Conde Nast Traveler before Bloomberg, where I have been for eight. I was the photo director of the all-female magazine, Mary Review and am always down for a side project.
👏Amanda Savinon
Dominican-American from New York City has been doing photo editing for 13 years. I grew up in the Bronx and graduated from Lehman College with a BFA in Photo.
👏Valentina Vergara
Valentina Vergara is a Colombian-American art director & designer, who’s interested in using visual communications as a catalyst for change. She’s collaborated on projects addressing gender disparity in graphic design education and is the co-author of Extra Bold: a feminist, inclusive, anti-racist, nonbinary field guide for graphic designers. She's interested in continuing to explore new ways of rethinking oppressive design norms while advocating for/uplifting marginalized perspectives.
👏Evan Ortiz
Evan is a queer, human and artist, who explores heart-centered forms of storytelling with what he creates. Professionally, he works as the Digital Photo Editor of Bloomberg Pursuits, Bloomberg's luxury and lifestyle vertical. He commissions and produces features for the brand's website, as well in the Pursuits section of Businessweek magazine. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, third generation Nuyorican, a first-generation university student.
🗣Nicole Motta (Host)
Nicole Motta (she/her/hers) is an Art Director with over 9+ years of experience in art and creative direction in the photo, design, tech, music, and publishing industries. She is a Peruvian-American creative, passionate about the intersectionality in tech, design, visual communications, and the future of the photographic/video medium. She focuses on pushing the boundaries of visual literacy by amplifying the voices of creatives from historically marginalized communities.
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