Juan Carlos Espinosa was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in Hialeah, Florida. He has degrees from Florida State University, the University of Zagreb, and the University of Miami. He is currently the Dean of the Honors College at FIU. Espinosa is a multidisciplinary artist who now works primarily as a sound artist. He studied photography with Mirta Gomez at FIU starting in 1986. Under her tutelage, he learned to work both in Black and White and color using various formats. Gomez also provided Espinosa with a thorough grounding in aesthetics, the history of photography, and the choreography of practice.

Espinosa uses images to tell sometimes complicated narratives. The individual pictures in a project come together as conversations that are in communication by other pictures and projects. Among his most significant work are projects on Santeria (Afro-Cuban religion), Espiritismo, political demonstrations in Miami, main streets in small towns in Florida, the Hialeah drag scene, and his own extended Cuban family.