Physical forces - Canada.ca

Physical forces - Canada.ca

The project

It has been more than a month since the last post. The project came to an almost....i think it never ends because i keep on finding stories or people,however, I could say that some of my curiosities had been somewhat resolved.

I put the the project in a book format, a format that really helped me say what I wanted to say and share besides images, the voice of these images.

Now I am preparing for a next project, never forgetting about this one, because this project taught me so much, from the mistakes and the assertions I feel I will take my next adventure a lot further and  give it an even deeper meaning. Not that this project didn´t do...but sometimes I felt lost and is part of exploring...getting lost is good and i hope i get lost in the next one too.

The images  

"Vine a conocer y hacer cosas  nuevas" -Eva (Ecuador)

"y es que a veces siento ganas de volver"-Gladys (Perú)

"Vine a los 27, fue como nacer de nuevo"-Jeremías (Brasil)

"Vine siguiendo a mis hijos, me siento felíz"-Lucy

"al principio fue dificil, extraño a mi madre"-Verónica (Argentina)

"lo hago por mi familia, lucho por ellos"-Cristobal (Bolivia)

"le prometía mi madre que le construiría su casa, logré eso

 y más"-Ronald (Perú)

"la cuestión es integrarse y vas encontrando tu sitio"-Eddie (Perú)

"solo busco oportunidades que no he tenido en el pasado"-Rubén (Bolivia)

""y la inmigración para el país que recibe es buena...la multiculturalidad me parece positiva...yo creo que es peor para el que llega que para el que recibe...desde el punto de vista de país es buena...en general es positivo por mucha crisis que haya"-Verónica (Chile)

"cuando eres inmigrante, no eres ni de aquí ni de allá" -Carlos (Perú)

It´s June 13, 2012. It´s been quite long since my last post. Since there are no followers on this blog i feel more free to write everything I want.

The project is coming to an end. I feel very happy with the results. I feel my vision has matured and I´ve been able to see more than what I did before.

As I wrote on my last post. I learned to listen....to wait...and most of all to have patience. 

I will post the results of my work in the next post.

Above all, I am very grateful to find along my way, people who believed in me...in my ideas...and supported me..emotionally..they were there.

The project turned out into a book. It needed to be this way so I could explain a little of my vision and the stories of the people who accepted to share it.

It has been hard...bu interesting putting it together. The photos I loved ..some of them..were not able to be there...but it´s ok...in the future I will make good use out of them.

I am so happy and relieved at the same time. As this journey ends I am very excited of whats more to come. Waiting for the outcome for an application I submitted a few months ago for a project in Mexico, a place where I always wanted to go back. I am very interested in this project because it is the evolution of this one. I feel I can handle it.

March and April

I had this update due, but let´s just get it over with to keep these updates nice and easy.
March was a very difficult month. Even though the master program has been helping me to visualize my project in a innovative way,this is a theory (heavy) master program, so there is a LOT of info coming my way and it is hard to digest it to keep going and to stay focused.

April has been a better month, a got to do more interviews and even though we are in mid April, I feel this is an important step for my project, i feel I am getting more images that speak of what I need to communicate and that makes me feel all this is worth it.

I´ve been able to meet people whose stories are heartbreaking, the last ones had been very difficult for me to get it in....why? because I see so many people back in the United States in this situation...and I see...that some things haven´t change at all.

I am so grateful I have the opportunity to do this project. I feel I can relate and connect with my subjects more and more. i am learning to pay attention, to listen carefully.I´ve been learning to respect even more people who take the decision to migrate to other countries in the search of better opportunities. i´ve learned to listen, to wait, most of all I´ve learned to have patience.

My master programs finishes in June, I feel I can have a good quality of work for it, however I feel I need a little more time to get more stories...more voices...

Some documentaries worth to watch

Documentaries about the immigrant´s journey crossing to the U.S and also the ones that are already living there who are exploited.


Los Invisibles


Made in L.A

February

Reflecting on the post from  last month I can say there was progress in this project. The idea is there and was well received by some people who I respect a lot.
So now comes the part where I have to go back and  sort of restart the shooting process again. It is all about that. If I don't feel fully confident about my work then I have to go back re evaluate and try again.
This time as in January this project gets stronger and more cohesive.
My biggest challenge has been finding more people who want to participate on my project. I have close to ten because some people decided not to participate anymore in it. A little disappointed but I respect their decision.
I don't know if I mentioned this before but I am working in color. This is the first time I use color in a project. I've shot before but just to try ...but wasn't fully convinced, however, I feel for this project color is a good choice. I saw these images in color when I was thinking about it back in december.
Close to the end of the month, the Fulbright Foundation had a mid year meeting in Valladolid. We all got the time to talk about the progress of our project and share our experiences in Spain. It was a good experience. While my stay in Valladolid  I got in contact  with a fellow Fulbright (teaching assistant from Santander) who is working on a film festival around the Immigration topic. This was just great, we were both speaking the same language and a project from this is coming. My work would be featured in this festival!! We would do workshops as well as a artist talk, in this case me talking about my work back in the United States and my project here in Madrid. I am so excited and nervous at the same time.I feel this is the beginning of many good things to come.
The project will progress because I am confident and believe in it. I feel satisfied with the visual images I am creating.

January

So, the end of January means quite a few things. Putting in perspective where this project is going and if I feel is going where I inteded it to go.
So far so good. As I mentioned before, at the same time of developing this project I am doing a masters program in photography at the Universidad Europea de Madrid. Getting into this program and developing my work at the same time of developing my vision as a visual artist has helped me so much.
I realized that i could of just done a series of images that i know how to do, but there is no challenge in it. So it could become boring, I knew I needed more, more in terms of challenges, visuals ( and I received an enormous amount of images during this course) I knew I could give more of me into this project and I am in the process of getting it.
December was an ok month, people coming in and out, mostly out of town. My project is about people, their stories so i got quite difficult during December to get some work done in term of image making so I got very involved into theory. Looking at artists, going to some exhibitions, even if they didn't have anything to do with photography, i like to look at everything.
On January I was able to get to photo sessions of previous people I interviewed. As i mentioned before, I am shaping the project to be something I've never done before, keeping my line but with a different approach to the subject. i think I am getting this now and I will continue with it.
Sometimes I feel I get something, that I finally getting the image that speaks out, but then there is something else missing. I like this challenge because it makes me think and reevaluate the processes I follow when I make photographs. I need to feel it and now I am feeling it.
This next month is going to get better. I got affiliated to another non governmental organization so I could get more people who would like to participate in the project. I am very excited because this is a bigger NGO so there is more traffic of people who might be interested to participate in the project.

February starts on a higher positive note.