Miami-born son of Cuban-American parents, René Merino is a photographer who creates and shares images with the hope of promoting tolerance, compassion and understanding. His photography career began just after photographing a homeless woman in Amsterdam, a life-changing experience that caused him to enroll in the photojournalism program at the University of Florida. Merino's photography continues to be dominated by images of people in unposed situations and street scenes. He currently lives in New Orleans and attends the College of Law at Loyola University New Orleans, where he is writing on the cultural heritage of the city. In 2009 he attended the Tulane-Siena Institute for International Law and the Arts in Siena, Italy.

Artist Statement

I became a photographer to expose viewers of my work to images of homeless and impoverished people. Society spends a lot of money and effort to hide homeless and needy people from view, especially from tourists. My goal was to put these images in front of people who could do something, affecting them in such a way that they would stand with and support their homeless counterparts. Although I have often been distracted from this project, it is never far from my heart, and I continue to work on it.

In 2003, as the United States government prepared for a war against Iraq, millions of people worldwide marched against this aggression. As a journalism student, I was angered by the mainstream media's lack of coverage of the protests and its unwillingness to question the Bush administration's decisions. I began photographing protests in Florida and in Washington, D.C. to spread the word that there existed an opposition to the madness. When newspapers refused to run my images, I posted them in public spaces.

Public spaces are a recurring theme in my work: from images of homeless people and protesters to music performances and street activity, these spaces provide me with the settings and the subjects of my photography. A quote on a wall inside the Museum of Modern Art in New York reflects my feelings: “The street is a theater – or something better still, since the costumes and actions of the ordinary citizen, who may have forgotten that he or she is on stage, can be even more enthralling than the most flamboyant performance...”