BELONGING IN TRANSIT: Cali Muñoz
© Cali Muñoz
Carlos Muñoz, winner of the 2023 HistoryMiami Museum Fellowship, uses photography to explore migration, memory, and identity, turning personal experience into quiet images that search for a sense of home. Belonging in Transit grew from that search. In Redland’s migrant market, he found stories that felt close to his own, echoes of displacement and resilience. His portraits are simple and honest, focused on small gestures, work, skin, and the temporary spaces people build while starting over. The images don’t judge or dramatize. They hold space for people’s strength, and they remind us that belonging is something we are always learning to create.
What began as a classroom assignment soon became something much deeper. During the Documentary Photography Project with Paúl Aragón Leytón, Cali (Carlos Muñoz) visited Redland Market for the first time. Something there resonated deeply, and that encounter became the seed of the photo essay he would later shape with conviction, now called Belonging in Transit.
© Cali Muñoz
At the school, we feel deep joy, pride, and a renewed sense of purpose when we see a photographer who comes from our classrooms win a fellowship and be exhibited at HistoryMiami Museum. It is a huge stage for him and the work is incredibly strong. And beyond that, through Doublepage we had the privilege of mentoring, editing, curating, and designing the exhibition Belonging in Transit. What more could we ask for?
Congratulations, Cali, and thank you for allowing us to be part of this journey.
Cali and the Silence
In any learning process, it’s essential to arrive at that place of curiosity and construction, the space where things begin to take shape.
Finding one’s own way of seeing is a long pursuit that requires patience. It’s about learning without the pressure of immediate results, learning in pause. Cali, always quiet, moved slowly, taking notes during class.
Teaching is also about being present, guiding without imposing, recognizing that we’re all different. Our hearts feel differently, we respond to different voices, and we all share the need for honest exchange.
It means creating a safe space for mistakes, for doubt, for questioning. Each student in the classroom took their own risks, revealing both landscapes and abysses.
Cali’s commitment, simplicity, and respect for what he’s learned are admirable. There’s a clarity that comes from facing oneself, from embracing the true gift that photography offers, understanding that what really matters is the journey.
Thank you, Cali.
Paúl Aragón Leytón
Cali Muñoz, photographed by Roberto Mata at HistoryMiami Museum before the installation of Belonging in Transit began.
Join us for an intimate evening on November 19th
