People of the Sun

People of the Sun by Melissa Alcena, 2024 “The Bahamas has suffered a lot in the past couple of years-enduring the aftermath and unfathomable devastation of Hurricane Dorian and then receiving another massive blow, that was the Covid-19 pandemic shortly after. As an artist whose creations at the time were totally reliant upon my interactions with Bahamians in the everyday, to say that this time had been difficult for me would be an understatement. But with the introduction of safety protocols and vaccines, I was able to adjust my process and continue to create images…” Melissa Alcena is a Bahamian portrait and documentary photographer based between The Bahamas and NYC. Alcena’s practice has been the lens through which she has reintroduced herself to the Bahamian landscape, after studying in Canada. Through this exploration and reintroduction, Alcena documents people in situ, expanding the visual tropes often exported from the Caribbean. Often in conversation with her subjects, Alcena’s photographs are a testament to kinship and an ode to the landscape. Editor - Kris Graves Design - Luminosity Lab 7 x 8.5" softcover, 4-color offset 48 pages First Edition Limited edition to 400 copies ISBN: 9781954877122 * This book is part of our series LOST IV, which includes: Anthem by Oji Haynes Black Snafu by Andre Ramos-Woodard Blood on the Ballast by Marshall Scheuttle Breathless by Richard Renaldi El Inquilino Mexico City by Tom Griggs Los Angeles Without Boundaries by Peter Baker Monument by Yoav Horesh People of the Sun by Melissa Alcena Shangri La by Melody Melamed Tell Me About Saigon by Tracy Dong COLLECTIONS Amon Carter Museum of Art Arcadia University Bard College Cleveland Museum of Art Coastal Carolina University Harvard University Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Pratt Institute Rhode Island School of Design Stanford University National Gallery of Art