This photo in the barrio…
On Saturday I found myself in Cuautepec and I made this one:
Cuautepec- Mexico City, 2021
It is an apparently careless photograph. A snapshot as someone would say.
It is not.
As soon as I got off the bus I took the shot, recognizing the documentary potential of this image in a fraction of a second.I have focused on the gentleman in the foreground. I want to give the sensation to be there or to be him. and loking at the landscape in front of us.
There is the OXXO, a famous mini market chain. There is a Volkswagen. There are the hills, with with buildings on top. There is the cable car, a new service that transports users. It is a photograph reflecting what is the transformation and the new Cuautepec, not so far from where I live.
Some streets later I take this shot:
Cuautepec 2 - Mexico City, 2021
This is the main avenue in Cuautepec.
In photographing across the street I chose a linear composition that presents some elements that show the place and offer a sincere document of it. Through a few elements I can document the human condition of these places, make an objective look and at the same time translate the reality of this popular neighborhood into an image.
The people in the image allow you to make an immediate connection with the place and offer the feeling of living it. Buildings give the viewer an understanding of what the place is like. The shop signs show the industrial nature of many of them.
The emerging hill, or mountain as we call it, offers a particular dimension and perception of the place, helping the observer to understand even more.
The photography that interests me feeds on this idea of offering information to the observer. Through the observation of the landscape we can understand much more about who we are and where we are going.
