Oscar Matos Linares

Oscar grew up in Puerto Rico, an hour’s drive from the El Yunque National Forest Reserve, the only Tropical Rainforest in US, known for rare trees, lush flora and fauna.

While working on his BA in Mathematics in 1989, “my father gave me my first camera to take on my weekend camping trips into the National Forests”. This led him to a formal study of photography, taking classes at the university, then working independently with a professor who had an apprentice approach: “I learned by doing”. After two years of creating 100 images a week, studying the pantheon of photographer’s work, countless hours of time behind the lens, he had developed his “eye”: the world that he sees through the lens, and shares in photographic form to his audience.

After graduation, Oscar relocated to Chicago, and in time, as he began to “miss the green I was used to.  My apartment in a Chicago winter made me miss the warmth of Puerto Rico. I realized I had taken its tropical beauty for granted, and that wasn’t reflected in any of the work I had been doing”. He sought out enclaves reminiscent of Puerto Rican rainforests, “at botanical gardens, conservatories, places that served for me as little preserves of home.” “I am currently working on a Series called ‘Delicates’ where I try to capture the magnificence of my homeland.” ‘Delicates’ is an expression of the photographer’s gratitude, and it is an act of preservation in its own right.

‘Delicates’ is a call to preservation for the rest of us, like the Chicago Botanical Gardens where these rare flora flourish, and where you can frequently run into Oscar plying his art.