Larry Gonzalez - Director / Cameraman

Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1962. From an early age he began making photographs with an old Kodak camera he had found in his grandmother's house. His childhood and adolescence were also enriched by his love of films. The local theater in his rural town became a window to the world of cinema. He still owes most of his visual influence to the films of Sergio Leone and the American films of the 1970's. He began his formal education in photography and film at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. In the early 1990's, he attended the Yale School of Art where he was greatly influenced by artists such as Nan Goldin and Greg Crewdson. Over a span of more than ten years he has developed a substantial body of work in Latin America where he concentrated in photographing the landscape and the underground street culture of large cities. His work has been exhibited widely in New York, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. A major retrospective of his photographic work is due for publishing next year under the title "Tiempo Muerto"

For the past six years he has also been progressively concentrating in filmmaking, bringing into the medium a defined voice and a unique sensibility. A firm believer in the narrative and evocative power of natural light, the artist got his first break in the business working as a still photographer in the film "Flawless" directed by Joel Schumacher. He also worked in Michael Mann?s "The Insider" that same year. In 2000 he returned to Puerto Rico to work on various collaborative projects with a second grant from The National Endowment for the Arts. It was during this period that he began working as a cinematographer in TV commercials and Independent film productions in the island: "Resurreccion" (2001), directed by Luis Caballero, and "Aguada de Azucar" (2002), directed by Juan Lopez.

In 2004 he moved back to New York City and completed "The Collector", his first film as a director. Gonzalez is currently in pre-production for his next film "Animas" set to begin shooting in New York and Puerto Rico in the summer of 2006.

Chronology

  • 1962 Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico
  • 1992 Graduates with a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art
  • 1996 Receives MFA form Yale University school of Art
  • 1998 Begins photography project in the Caribbean with a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts
  • 2000 Begins his film career as still photographer in "Flawless" and "The Insider"
  • 2001 Completes his first work as a cinematographer in the documentary "Resurreccion"
  • 2002 Completes his first feature as a cinematographer "Aguada de Azucar"
  • 2003 Writes and directs his first film "The Collector"
  • 2005 Finishes his third project as a cinematographer "Sangre/Blood"