Nestor Hernández (1961–May 13, 2006) was an American photographer and

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

of Cuban descent, based in Washington, DC. Hernández was best known for his street photography of his

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

neighborhood as well as street scenes of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

, where he led arts-based projects for children and young adults.

Work

Hernández was born in 1961 in Washington, DC of an

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...

father and an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

mother, and he grew up in the DC area knowing little of his

ancestry and

n relatives. Hernández was introduced initially to photography in high school through the Urban Journalism Workshop of the D.C. public schools. He spent 15 years as the photographer for the Capital Children’s Museum, and then became the chief photographer for the Washington, D.C. public school system. His photographs appeared in many publications. His photographs have been included in gallery, art spaces and museum exhibitions, including permanent exhibitions, in and around the Greater Washington, D.C. capital region, various American cities,

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Ghana. As a professional photographer, his photographs have been published in many newspapers and magazines, such as The Metro Herald, The International Review of African American Art, Port of Harlem magazine, Brookings Review, El Pregonero, The Latin Trade Report, and others.

Awards

In 2002 he received the "Outstanding Emerging Artist" award, and in 2003 an Artist Fellowship Grant, both from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In 1998 he was the recipient of the "Community Service Award" given by the Exposure Group, African American Photographers Association, and in 2001 he was selected as the "Photographer of the Year" by the same association.

Exhibitions

* 1999 - ''Inside Cuba: A Photographic Journey,'' Center for Collaborative Art and Visual Education (CAVE), Washington, DC * 2000 - ''Forever Young: A Portrait of the Black Child,'' Capital Children's Museum, Washington, DC * 2002 - ''In the Arms of the Elders,'' Anacostia Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC *2003 - ''Cuba Now!,'' Sumner School Museum and Archives, Washington, DC * 2003 - ''De Aqui y de Alla (From Here and From There) - Contemporary Cuban Artists,'' Fraser Gallery,

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

*2004 - ''Walking to their own beat: Afro-Cuban Musicians and the Black Identity,'' Latin American Youth Center, Washington, DC * 2005 - ''Our Children, Our World,'' Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC *2006 - ''Love, Loss and Longing: The Impact of U.S. Travel Policy on Cuban-American Families,''

Arlington Arts Center The Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (MOCA Arlington) is a non-collecting contemporary art museum and visual arts center in the Virginia Square neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia, established in 1974. Housed since 1976 in the histori ...

Arlington, VA Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

* 2007 - Nestor Hernandez Memorial Survey, International Visions Gallery, Washington, DC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernández, Nestor 1961 births American people of Cuban descent American photojournalists Photographers from Washington, D.C. African-American artists American street photographers 2006 deaths 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people