Alejandro Cleofe Rubí’s project, Desolate, explores his relationship with the city of Boston and how he reads the architectural landscape. Rubí uses photography as a method of transmitting the emotions he experiences as he explores the city allowing the viewer to feel as though they are getting to know this city for the first time. Boston has nearly 1.2 million people commuting into the city each day; despite this, Rubí’s photographs reveal the city as a desolate place. The photographs show a place where Rubí as a foreigner feels isolation despite the constant emphasis on this city being a home to all. Many of the photographs suggest that Rubí may not be on the right path. This confusion can be seen in the architectural landscape where the city is portrayed as a lonely place.
In addition to these photographs, other images represent figures who inhabit a place but are unable to connect with it. Rubí contemplates the idea of being present physically but not mentally connected. These people’s presence is considered secondary to the moment in which they exist, and this exposes the city’s true colors.
