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Capturing a pinhole selfie, which gives an effect of camera obscura, Adriana Torres was awarded first prize for Best Selfie.
Capturing a pinhole selfie, which gives an effect of camera obscura, Adriana Torres was awarded first prize for Best Selfie.

The face of Latino pride in Philadelphia

On Oct. 26 Rev. Luis Cortes, founder and president of Esperanza, congratulated the winning students: Jacob Rodriguez, who won for Best Portrait; Daiana Loza,…

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Created as a platform for the youngest generation of Latinos in the Philadelphia region, the social media photo contest #YoSoyLaCara just announced the winners of its latest edition.

On Oct. 26 Rev. Luis Cortes, founder and president of Esperanza, congratulated the winning students: Jacob Rodriguez, who won for Best Portrait; Daiana Loza, who won the People’s Choice photo; and Adriana Torres for Best Selfie.

Each of them received an award of $500 as the first prize winners of the campaign, which was created to promote a sense of identity and pride in Latino culture, as well as a way for young people to express themselves.

"Selfies are important as one of the new communication platforms. To me, the process of #YoSoyLaCara is important because it gives our community the opportunity to express many positive aspects," Cortes said. "Usually mainstream press focuses on the negative. Today even presidential candidates say negative things about Latinos. So it is important that we have a platform by which to communicate the positive in our community."

Rev. Cortes also announced that next year the competition will go national. "So that people, with as much diversity as there is, can define themselves and not be defined by others who have political or cultural interests that are anti-Latino," Cortes said.

Capturing a pinhole selfie, which gives an effect of camera obscura, Adriana Torres was awarded for Best Selfie.

"I was very excited that I won. The message I wanted to express was that when life comes at you very fast, you can still accomplish anything you set your mind to," said Torres, a student of John B. Stetson Middle School who has been part of the photography club for a year.

Jacob Rodríguez, an Esperanza Academy student, won for Best Portrait.

The Best Portrait was awarded to Jacob Rodriguez, an Esperanza Academy student, who took the image on the Puerto Rican Day Parade.

"What was going through my mind is to take this seriously because this is my pride. I'm proud of being Puerto Rican and Latino,” Rodriguez said.

He said he got the idea for the photo while playing basketball. "I took the photo around 5th Street and West,  where I always played ball. I wanted to enter the contest but didn’t know exactly how go about it," Rodriguez said. "I saw a Puerto Rican flag up against a gate post, I took my iPhone to take a quick selfie with a serious face."

Born in Argentina but raised in the Philadelphia region, Daiana Loza’s image became the People’s Choice photo by gaining 1,900 likes during the contest. "Growing up, my parents always made sure that we maintained our heritage." Loza said. "I think it is very important to look after your own culture from generation to generation."

Wrapped in Argentina's flag, Loza was photographed by her mother at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

"I may have moved to the United States, but a piece of Argentina will always shine within me," reads the caption of Loza’s photo.

 

Daiana Loza, who won the People’s Choice photo for gathering 1,900 likes during the contest of #YoSoyLaCara.

 

The following selfies were among the finalists and received an honorable mention:

 

The dance ensemble Folklórico Yaretzi received an honorable mention in "Relevance."

 

Aliyah Parilla received an honorable mention for "Composition and Creativity."

 

William Torres-Maldonado received an honorable mention for "Best Caption": "Latinos are talented, amazing and the future of this country. I am proud to be Latino because I have a beautiful culture that I want to share with the rest of the world. I am a proud Puerto Rican and these are some of my dance partners, and we love to share our talent and our culture with the world through dance." / "Los latinos son talentosos, increíbles y el futuro de este país. Estoy orgulloso de ser latino porque tengo una cultura hermosa que quiero compartir con el resto del mundo. Soy un puertorriqueño orgullos y estos son algunos de mis compañeros de danza, nos encanta compartir nuestra cultura y talento con todo el mundo a través de nuestro baile".

 

Cynthia Evelyn Solis received an honorable mention for "Quality in Photography."

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