Proud of this place

“When I think of Trinidad and Tobago, the words that come immediately to mind are PRIDE and HOME.” These are the words of Richard Ramirez when asked to define what his country means to him.

Richard describes himself as a visual storyteller. He is the eye behind one of the latest local works of art, Historical Buildings and Landmarks of Trinidad and Tobago Volume 1.

This hard-covered book takes us on a guided tour through our nation’s history using amazing high-resolution photography to capture images of our physical patrimony as they exist today, while sharing succinct explanations of the historic and cultural significance of the featured locations.

This first volume of the book series has been in the works for several years and its roots are buried in Richard’s passion for photography. His background as an energy industry executive led him to spend decades living in exotic locations from Europe and the Far East, as well as many countries in Latin America.

It was during this time that he started developing his interest in photography as a means of recording his memories of these amazing places and cultures.

Upon his return to Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, he continued to follow his passion at every spare opportunity, travelling the length and breadth of the islands capturing images of his homeland, and sharing those images with friends via social media.

Richard explained that he received many compliments about the quality of his images, but the most surprising comments that he regularly received were “That is Trinidad and Tobago?”.

This was a game changer for Richard. It was not until this time that he recognised how many of his friends harboured strong negative impressions of their home, which were in direct conflict with his own overwhelming feelings of pride.

That was where the seed of inspiration was planted. This was the genesis of the idea to compile a coffee table style book of images of Trinidad and Tobago.

Work on the book started in earnest during 2017, but between his hectic work life and family commitments, progress was slow. It was not until the middle of 2019 when Richard made a conscious decision to get this project completed and resigned his full-time job to create space for the development of his art and this project.

By the end of the first quarter of 2020 the book was completed, and submitted to the National Artist Registry, where it was certified as a local work of art.

The first edition of Historical Buildings and Landmarks of Trinidad & Tobago Volume 1 has now been published and is on its way to our shores. Pre-ordering from the Richard Ramirez Imaging website commenced on August 8, 2021, and has been a great success with an additional print run being planned even before the first edition lands in the country.

Once the initial project got moving, it quickly became evident that there was too much beauty and history on our islands to be contained in one book, so Volume 2 became a ‘no brainer’.

While the country has been experiencing restrictions due to the pandemic, Richard remained hard at work. Volume 2 is nearing completion, with the intention of having it in the hands of the printers at the end of the first week of September 2021, for a launch in Trinidad and Tobago in early November 2021.

We invite you to take a few moments to visit the Richard Ramirez Imaging website  at www.richardramirezimaging.com or send an email to info@richardramirezimaging.com to learn more about the journey, and share in the pride  of what makes us uniquely Trinbagonian. Let us celebrate our history together.