jonlowenstein

Happy New Year 🎊

Everyone needs a Cooper’s Hawk to keep the riff-raff away. From the If You Lives Here You’d Be Home By Now series. Ever since I was a small child I Have been fascinated by birds of prey. #

Camouflage from the If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By now series.

From the ‘If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now’ series. #

‘Open your eyes and you will see.’ From the ‘If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now’ series.

La Familia - National Geographic Magazine
November 2023
Gringolandia

La Familia, is a story about the Guzman-Cruz family - a 4 generation mixed status Mexican-American family who arrived in Chicago in the late 1990s, during one of the largest waves of transnational migration to the US. I met Guadalupe ‘Lupe’ Guzman at an organizing meeting in the year 2000 and has been documenting the family ever since. The project brings the viewer into the intimate and personal lives over an extended period of time. Ultimately, this is a story about the ongoing quest for the American dream - about the slow and challenging road to assimilation and legal acceptance within the United States. Mil gracias to Lupe and all the family who have taught me so much from learning how to speak ‘Spanish’ more fluently to the very meaning of life. It is an honor and a deep privilege to spend time with them, watch their lives evolve and photograph their ups and downs over a long period of time.

I want to give my deepest thanks to the whole team at Magazine and the National Geographic Society Explorerswho believed in the project from way back including Jennifer Samuel . Jen never gave up and saw the project through to her last days at the magazine before handing it over to Dominique Hildebrand and her amazing team. A huge shout out to Whitney Johnson who first showed the family work at Moving Walls VII way back when. Thank you for understanding the need for this story during these contentious times. And of course, I want to give a massive a huge shout out to Luis Alberto Urrea who is one of my personal heroes both as an artist and a man. HIs words help bring home the story in a very unique and powerful way. , , , . Thanks to both who continue to support us and I have to shout out from LFI Magazine for loaning me a beautiful Leica for this project. The combination of mirrorless Nikon mirrorless Z7’s and the Leica rangefinders was perfect.

Halloween Howler at the Briar Hill Middle school from the If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now. All proceeds from the evening go to fixing up the school playground.

Another image from the If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now series.

If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now. Fall comes quickly and brilliantly here - but passes in the blink of an eye.

Down by the River - from the ‘If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now’ series.