Andrés Valenzuela is a photographer currently based in Belleville, Ont., where he is studying photojournalism at Loyalist College.

As a photojournalist living in Canada, far from my birthplace of Colombia, there is a constant feeling that part of my life is missing. This photography project attempts to explain my own perspective on what we Latin American immigrants carry inside as we seek a future in foreign lands. These photographs show a missing puzzle piece – the feeling of separation from our families, our roots, our past and our history.

This missing piece also represents the absence of our homeland and everything that has shaped us as human beings as we undergo a challenging and often painful journey on our search for a better future. Increased skepticism about immigration in Canada, plus the Trump administration’s targeting of Latin American migrants in the U.S., has added to the stress on Latinos in Canada, given that many have relatives south of the border.

The people portrayed in this series are all Latin Americans living in Canada. Some are temporary residents, some are citizens and others, like me, are here as international students. We are all united by our Latin blood and our passion for our culture, but we also share an emptiness for what we lack, what we miss and what remains far away, because that is also what being an immigrant is about: disconnection, uprooting and absence. These photos show both the immigrants’ vulnerability as well as our resilience, courage and strength that drive us forward, despite the many challenges we face on our journey.