Jonathan Castillo
Chicago, IL
Visual Art
Jonathan Castillo is an editorial photographer originally from Los Angeles and currently making his home in Chicago. His personal projects often focus on groups of people, cultural behavior, societal issues and occasionally puppets. He has a strong technical background in photography, video, lighting, and photographic problem solving. He has experience working globally in communities where he is an outsider, and where he’s able to convey that he is an ally and looking to make work with them, not about them.
Describing his work in general, Jonathan explains his process as a commitment towards getting to know people. It’s about building relationships, trust, and sharing ideas and hearing ideas from others. He believes it is important to find people who are not just willing but eager to collaborate. Jonathan believes that it’s critical for the work to circulate within the communities with whom he works – it’s not enough to be an observer and make work about a community, but rather work should be made for and with a community.