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CLIENT National Geographic Magazine
PROJECT STATUS On-going
PRODUCT Photos, Video, Gallery Exhibit, Limited Edition Prints, Presentation
SYNDICATION Photographs syndicated by Reportage-by-Getty Images
PROJECT
As a photojournalist I covered many stories about immigrants. Most of these stories revolved around the plight of Hispanic men working illegally in the United States — men who carried a crumpled photo of their children in their back pocket, men who called their wives on Sundays. I wondered about the women they left behind.
No Man’s Land: The Women of Mexico explores the unseen side of the immigration story by documenting the effect of emigration on the women and children left behind in the rural towns of Oaxaca, Mexico. Most of the men in these extremely poor communities go to the U.S. in order to survive and provide for their families. Stricter enforcement of U.S. immigration laws along with more risky and costly border crossings has ended the historic circular migration in which immigrants split their time between working in the U.S. and maintaining family relationships back home. Now, immigrants stay in the U.S. for extended periods of time, perhaps never returning home; tearing at the fabric of the Mexican family.
Traditionally, the women’s responsibilities were domestic and under the rule of the husbands. Out of necessity and with the men gone, women take charge of their families and finances. Machismo is giving way to a new structure the women call “pura mujer”— purely women.
GOAL
To portray an intimate view of immigration from the perspective of the women and children in Mexico through photography and multimedia.
APPROACH
Between 2006 – 2008, I made several short trips to photograph and interview in three rural villages in the central valley of Oaxaca with funding from National Geographic. In 2009, I returned with a writer from GEO Magazine to produce a feature article. I also produced a video documentary that narrates the story of the women. I used a local woman to assist me and I lived with families. Speaking Spanish was an invaluable tool as I was quickly able to form great relationships with the women, gaining their trust and access into their lives.
<\img> CHALLENGE
The biggest challenge was to illustrate the absence of men. It took a while to really learn the story and find the subjects that best illustrate the issues. It wasn’t until the last few trips that I found a village that really tells this story. I also got caught up in a civil war and had to flee the state - but that’s a story for another time!
RESULT
No Man’s Land has been widely published in magazines nationally and internationally, the documentary has been screened at human rights film festivals around the globe and the images have become a touring gallery exhibit and presentation. No Man’s Land has sparked dialogue and added a perspective of understanding, compassion and respect to the heated immigration debate.
ACCOLADES
2011 Blue Earth Alliance Award Winner - receiving 501-3c non profit status
2010 Anthropographia Multimedia & Human Rights Award
2010 Open Society Institute Audience Engagement Award - Finalist
2009 Santa Fe CENTER Portfolio Review
PUBLICATIONS (images syndicated by Reportage by Getty Images)
National Geographic Magazine
GEO Magazine
LATINA Magazine
China’s Grazia Magazine
Spain’s Semenal
United Nations
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EXHIBITS & SCREENINGS
2012 “No Man’s Land” part of Borderlines exhibit at Denver University, Denver CO
2011 “No Man’s Land” part of Borderlines exhibit at Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Lakewood CO
2010 “No Man’s Land” Kniznick Gallery, Brandeis University, MA
2010 “No Man’s Land” New York Festival of the Photograph; New York, NY
2010 “No Man’s Land” LOOKbetween, Charlottesville, VA
2010 “No Man’s Land” Human Rights Film Festival, Montreal
2010 “No Man’s Land” Festival du Film et Forum International sur les Droits Humains, Geneva
2010 “No Man’s Land” New York Festival of the Photograph, NY
2009 “No Man’s Land” The Light Factory; Charlotte, NC
2009 “No Man’s Land” group exhibit The Center for Fine Art Photography; Fort Collins, CO
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PRESENTATIONS
Denver University, Denver, CO
Brandeis College, Boston, MA
Lasell College, Boston, MA
Rusell Sage Colleges, Troy, NY
School of the Mines, Golden, CO
Women In Design, Denver, CO
Union College, Schenectady, NY
Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Longmont, CO
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