Do you think any street photographer does what I do? Come with me in this route.

PLEASE NOTE: The Cuautepec area, one of the upper parts of the Gustavo A Madero Mayor's Office, is famous for everything. It is considered one of the most dangerous and one of the red areas of the capital, where shootings are frequent, due to clashes between criminal groups, forgotten by the authorities. With very high levels of marginalization and is one of the points in Mexico City with the highest number of high-impact crimes related to drug trafficking and kidnapping, according to official reports.

You will understand that photographing in these conditions you can usually think of doing while protecting yourself from the point of view of personal safety. Bringing local people with you or doing reportage work by making contact in advance. Certainly you do not start doing street photography because they are not used here and many do not even know the reason why one starts taking pictures without asking permission.

I do it.

I have already did in the past and I still do just like these few images show. I made these shots on Saturday.

Crime took hold of the neighborhood years ago, but according to the neighbors, the levels of violence have intensified. A bus was set on fire with everything including the driver and a priest from the parish Precious Blood of Christ was kidnapped.

There are shootings between young people who sell drugs and violence has taken over the streets. The sale of narcotics is at its peak in Cuautepec Barrio Alto and Barrio Bajo, but above all the number of homicides has increased.

If you see these images are showing normal moments, including families and everyday life. If you don't have a context of the situation, you may even think that you are in a quiet place. While photographing in the main street the internal roads lead to the upper area, leading to the mountain. While photographing my attention is very high, checking the side streets where you can see boys outside the houses.

For 15 years it has been linked to the dispute between families for control over taxis, pedicabs, street vendors and drug dealing. All very profitable businesses in an area where more than 400 thousand people live, this dispute has become increasingly bloody.

The violence that has occurred in the upper area of the Gustavo A. Madero mayor's office is caused by the struggle between two criminal groups that dispute the control of various illegal activities.An intelligence report, prepared by capital authorities, indicates that the groups seek to manage drug dealing, extortion collection, informal trade and the operation of pirate taxis.

According to the report, a man identified as Andrés de la Cruz was the one who controlled the area, but he was assassinated in 2004 by a group identified as the “Narcos de la Paris”. The death of Andrés Cruz generated a dispute for control between uncles, brothers and cousins, mainly, to keep the Plaza Hidalgo, in the center of Cuautepec Barrio Alto.

In knowing certain facts, photographing is not mentally the best and most serene of activities. My discretion helps me. However, even in this way I never put the camera in my bag.

When I read certain phrases of some street photographers' effect on having balls, I laugh. Having balls to photograph in your face a tourist or an old lady with sunglasses in Downtown? Really?

I live not very far from here. I go there every day, practically. In recent years I have happened to photograph in Cuautepec in the morning but also in the afternoon. And you can feel the difference. I also photographed at night but from inside a car.

I realize that I have excusedly moved the options dial and it went to me automatically for a few shots. In fact, the photos come out as I would not like, too underexposed.

Even if with the pancake mounted a DSLR still makes itself more obvious. Even those who don't know about photography now recognize those cameras as professional and this can be a problem in places like these. But I'm using the reflex camera just because the cost is much lower than the other…

I made these photos in the vicinity of Colonia Jorge Negrete, on Cuautepec Avenue. A policewoman was shot and killed in the streets of Mexico City, in the Gustavo A. Madero mayor's office, exactly in this avenue on June 1st, 2021 after she received a gunshot in the head.

I am pretty sure that offering a little chronicle of these places, even simple photographs like these now take on another perception to those who see them.

I don't want to apologize for going to dangerous places to take street photos. I am loco, you don’t have to be like me. And Street photography is not meant to document dangerous scenes. But my research is always aimed at offering something more that can document the human condition regardless of genre classifications.

The streets of Cuautepec

Some notes on photography aesthetics

Photojournalism: Villa Mujeres in 2012