We were lucky to catch up with Romina Hendlin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Romina, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful photography project I have worked on was back in 2009 and it lasted until 2015, on and off. I was in my home country Venezuela and my dear friend Maickel Melamed, who has a physical disability due to complications at birth, decided he was going to inspire the world by running (which for us would be walking fast) the 5 World Major Marathons. Maickel is one of those people who doesn’t let the barriers in his life stop him from achieving his dreams. So, as a newbie in photography (2009) I started to photograph him training, doing physical therapy, in his work, in his home, all of it. In 2010 I moved to NY to study photography more formally and later in 2011, Maickel ran his first half Marathon in Miami and I went to document it. Achieving this allowed him to then run the NYC marathon in november of 2011. His run lasted 15 hours. After this he also ran and I documented as well, the marathons in Berlin, Chicago and Boston.
To document Maickel’s journey, the good days and the bad days, the people that surrounded him, the people that admired him from the distance,all of that was one of the times I have learned and grow the most in my life. His perseverance to make it work. His commitment to motivate others through his example. The courage to try it even if it seems like a crazy idea because no one would have thought he could. Maickel always says: “Don’t tell me no, tell me how” and I think this is one of the best learnings I take with me, as well as: “If you dream it, make it happen”.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Since I was very little, I used to pay attention and be sensible to the way people around me lived. On one hand I would see my home country Venezuela as a rich and vibrant society and on the other, extreme poverty existed, still does, visible everywhere. My family has migrated for generations, grandparents from Poland to Argentina, my parents from Argentina to Venezuela and I migrated from Venezuela to the USA. This meant that I was never from one place, always feeling I had several cultures to identify with. I share all of this background because my upbringing has played a big role in the kinds of subjects I like to photograph and the types of ideas I like to explore with an anthropological lens.

In my day to day I work within two types of worlds. The private and the public. The private world refers to any person, organization, company that would like to have their work documented and their employees photographed. I love this work because it always teaches me something new about our society and the structure of our economy and social values. I love photographing people, that is what I do all the time and when it is in the private realm, I get to help people feel more comfortable with their image by having a fun experience in front of my camera. I usually hear at the beginning of the session: “I hate having my photo taken” and then at the end: “Oh, that was really fun and I enjoyed myself”.

The public world that I love photographing as well, refers to all the people I photograph in the streets and this is the work I sell as fine art. There are two main projects that I have worked on which define who I am and where people can connect those images with me. The first is a series on “Group Portraits”. Yes, I am one of the few artists who loves photographing big groups of people. I enjoy a lot the art of directing and visualizing how everyone fits perfectly into the frame. It excites me to have a group in front of me and make an amazing portrait of them. I did a lot of this photography as I started my career and every time I get the opportunity to do this in the private realm I enjoy it a lot. I think this is my specialty for sure.

The second project is an ongoing one called “Beach Vendors” where I photograph, interview and buy products from Beach Vendors around the world. In this project I use an anthropological lens to dive deep into this economy and bring more depth into the stories of these people. What I really love about this project, beyond the visuals, is that it has a multilayered approach. The vendors sign a model release where I share with them that I will sell the photographs and they will receive the 10% of the earnings of the first sale of their photograph. I also buy two products from the vendors, one for myself to use in future exhibitions, and one for the first collector of the photograph. I like the idea of connecting in some way the Beach Vendor with the collector. Furthermore, the collector becomes a sort of producer as with a portion of the sale I travel to the next beach to continue the project. This will become a beautiful book one day and a traveling exhibition.

I love working with people, photographing people and getting to know people. I make people feel good about themselves by caring about them whether that is in the private or public realm.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The best story of resilience has to do with my project Beach Vendors. You see, I started this project in 2015 because I saw a very visually interesting opportunity to tell stories of everyday people. When I photographed the first Beach Vendor I didn’t have a methodology. I just photographed them and asked their names and a few questions but I didn’t even write them down. Then I went to the next Beach and did the same and thought, mmm there is something here. Clearly I wasn’t ready to actually make this project move forward but I knew there was something special in it. Everytime I would go on vacation to a Beach I would make some portraits. By the time I had 4 Beaches with about 40 Beach Vendors I thought, I have to give more depth to this. I researched and realized I needed more studies and I went ahead to do a Masters in Visual Anthropology. This gave me the tools I needed to build my own methodology and in a way, start all over again.
In 2022 I went back to the first two Beaches I photographed, Pinamar in Argentina and Cartagena in Colombia. What I felt by starting all over again, was actually so rewarding. I felt so committed to this idea, to the importance of this sector of the economy, to the richness visually and in storytelling.
Resilience is to keep going even when things are not aligned in the moment you want them to be aligned. Resilience is believing in yourself even when the people you think should value you, still doesn’t.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

During the pandemic I had a creative mentor who helped me understand which was my goal, mission or manifest. We came down to this phrase: ” Enseñar realidades que amplían perspectivas para crear oportunidades”, which means: “Show/teach realities that amplify perspectives to create opportunities”. In Spanish the word Enseñar has two meanings: showing and also teaching. I think I have been and done that since I was very little and it took me a good 35 years to define it and put it on paper.
I have a sensibility towards certain groups of people, usually the ones that seem to have less opportunities in life. I like to hear them out, share their stories and connect worlds that otherwise wouldn’t connect. I believe that the more we put ourselves in others’ shoes, the more we can empathize with their reality and understand other people’s circumstances.
I also love to teach people the art of photography and the possibility to see the world differently, to find beauty in the simple things and to have a tool of self expression. Photography changed my life and I hope it can change for the better someone else’s too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rominahendlin.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rominahendlin/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rominahendlin/
• Twitter: https://x.com/RominaHendlin
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rominahendlin
• Other: Beach Vendors project: https://beachvendors.wixsite.com/website

Image Credits

All are my photographs. ©Romina Hendlin