Star Montana is a photographer in New York. Originally from East Los Angeles, she moved to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts and pursue her passion as an artist. Currently, she is working on a project of taking portraits of Mexican-Americans to dispel a stereotype she encountered when she came to New York city–that they are all short, brown, and indigenous-looking. While taking the portraits, she has realized that this has also become a process to confront the question of what exactly does it mean to be and identify as Mexican-American.

The owner of La Casa Azul, Aurora Anaya-Cerda, talks about her journey to creating the bookstore and its significance to the community of East Harlem.