Photographs that invite a deeper look at place, identity, history, and belonging.
Xiomaro is an internationally exhibited photographer, author, and curator whose work explores the history, culture, environment, and everyday life of places and communities. Through photographs, books, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and media appearances, he encourages viewers to look more closely at people and places that are often overlooked, misunderstood, or taken for granted.
His work ranges from National Park Service commissions to independent documentary projects in the United States and abroad. Whether photographing the home of an American Impressionist painter, a Revolutionary War site, an overlooked slave cemetery, a seaside resort town, or contemporary life in Greenland, Xiomaro is interested in how people shape places—and how places shape people. His street photography and documentary work chronicle everyday life as what he calls “future history”: ordinary moments that may one day become part of the historical record.
Xiomaro often describes his approach as “residentography.” Rather than arriving as a tourist or passing observer, he spends time learning a place through its people, history, landscape, and daily rhythms. By walking, researching, interviewing, and returning repeatedly to the same locations, he seeks to understand not only what a place looks like, but what it feels like to live there. The resulting photographs serve as gateways into larger stories about culture, identity, community, and the human experience.
His National Park Service commissions and related projects have been exhibited at institutions including Harvard University, Fraunces Tavern Museum, Long Island Museum, Morris Museum, Fruitlands Museum, and numerous historic sites throughout the nation. Galleries in the United States, Europe, and China have exhibited his street photography and documentary work. Publications such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Newsday, and Fine Art Connoisseur have featured his work, and he has appeared on PBS, CBS, ABC, Fox Nation, NPR member stations, and other media outlets.
Xiomaro is the author of Street Photography of New York City (Sutton Publishing), Street Photography of the Wildwoods (Sutton Publishing), and Weir Farm National Historic Site (Arcadia Publishing), which features a foreword by Senator Joseph Lieberman. His broader creative practice includes writing, music composition and recording, photo ceramics, and video production.
Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Xiomaro began his creative life as a musician. He later earned a degree in philosophy and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Law and Politics at New York University School of Law. His legal career included corporate litigation, entertainment law, and artist management, representing performers in the hip hop, dance, and pop music industries.
After recovering from cancer, Xiomaro reassessed the direction of his life and career. Photography, which had previously been an interest, became a way to slow down, observe more closely, and engage more deeply with the world around him. What began as solitary walks with a camera evolved into a new creative vocation centered on exploring places, communities, and the human stories embedded within them.
The transition was commemorated by adopting the professional name Xiomaro, which means “ready for battle.” The name honors his roots in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Spain, and the Canary Islands while reflecting the perseverance that carried him through a legal career, a battle with cancer, and the pursuit of a new life in the arts.
Commissions and Projects
Greenland: Arctic Uncertainty | Greenland
A long-term documentary project examining everyday life, culture, identity, and the environment in Greenland during a period of growing international attention. Through photography, interviews, and research, the project explores how residents navigate questions of modernization, self-determination, cultural preservation, and environmental change.
George Washington Birthplace National Monument | Virginia
Photographic documentation and interpretation of the landscape, architecture, and historical legacy associated with the birthplace of George Washington, exploring the relationship between national memory and place.
Thomas Stone National Historic Site | Maryland
A continuing project examining the home and world of Declaration of Independence signer Thomas Stone, using photography to explore the human dimensions of the American founding era.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site | New York
A photographic exploration of Theodore Roosevelt’s Summer White House, focusing on details, objects, and spaces that illuminate the personality, interests, and daily life of one of America’s most influential presidents.
Morristown National Historical Park | New Jersey
An ongoing body of work interpreting George Washington’s wartime headquarters, Jockey Hollow encampment, Cross Estate Gardens, and surrounding landscapes through exhibitions, lectures, publications, and documentary projects.
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site | Massachusetts
A project inspired by Olmsted’s philosophy of the “genius of place,” documenting the environment in which America’s foremost landscape architect and his firm shaped many of the nation’s most important public spaces.
Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site | Massachusetts
A photographic interpretation of the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, pairing images with poetry inspired by the house and grounds to explore the relationship between creative work and place.
William Floyd Estate | New York
A multifaceted project documenting the estate of Founding Father William Floyd while also examining lesser-known stories connected to the site, including the experiences of enslaved individuals whose lives helped sustain the property.
Weir Farm National Historical Park | Connecticut
A long-term exploration of the home, studios, and landscape of American Impressionist Julian Alden Weir and sculptor Mahonri Young. The project investigates how artists shape their surroundings and how those surroundings influence artistic vision.
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area | Massachusetts
A study of historic forts, military structures, abandoned facilities, and evolving landscapes that reveals the layered history of Boston Harbor and its islands.
New England National Scenic Trail | Connecticut and Massachusetts
A photographic journey along the 215-mile trail examining the interaction between landscape, recreation, history, and regional identity across New England.
Fire Island National Seashore | New York
A project documenting wilderness, shoreline ecology, and the fragile balance between preservation and human use along one of the Atlantic Coast’s most distinctive barrier islands.
Big Cypress National Preserve | Florida
Work produced during an Artist-in-Residence program exploring the complex ecological and cultural consequences of invasive plant and animal species within one of America’s most diverse ecosystems.
Everglades National Park | Florida
A companion project examining invasive species and environmental stewardship in the Everglades, with particular attention to the relationship between human activity and ecological change.
Morris County Historical Society at Acorn Hall | New Jersey
A series of projects documenting architecture, landscapes, and overlooked historical sites throughout Morris County, including Waterloo Village, Orchard Street Cemetery, and other locations significant to regional history.
Books
Sutton Publishing
Phoenix Mill
Thrupp
Stroud GL5 2BU
England, United Kingdom
Book Marketing
Casemate | IPM
1950 Lawrence Road
Second Floor
Havertown, Pennsylvania
United States of America
Any image or text or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever – including any and all uses in connection with artificial intelligence technology – without my express written permission. Violators will, and have been, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Website and Xiomaro logo by Azul Burger.