Private Story
transmuting
[ FOR A MORE EXTENSE PORTFOLIO + MINI DOC ON THE CARAVAN PLEASE ACCESS THE LINK: IN TRANSIT (link also in submission) ]
"Transmuting my history" is a transmedia project that narrates the motivations and hardships of Andrea, Jose, Gladimir, Anger and Mariposa, a group of LGBTQ migrants from Guatemala and Honduras who crossed thru Mexico in the migrant caravan in 2018, as they sought asylum in the US. On Nov. 2018 I joined the LGBTQ contingent for three days in the second organized migrant caravan fleeing systemic violence, poverty and economic instability in the region known as the northern triangle in Central America: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
I met them two weeks later on November 25th in Tijuana. With the help of LGBTQ NGOs from California, this group of fifty people, was placed in a home so they would not suffer further discrimination in the migrant camps set up by the government. While in Tijuana they were given legal assistance as to what to expect once they crossed, clothes, food and alongside three families with children, they shared the daily chores of this commune, as they anxiously waited for their numbers to arrive to cross into the US.
On December 25th, I travelled once again to Tijuana since Andrea, a trans girl, got married. I spent new years with them at the house and a few days later in Jan. 2019, many of them crossed into the US and remained in detention for 6 months to almost one year, since they did not have any legal assistance while incarcerated.
Andrea, Anger and Mariposa gained asylum as they left the facilities. Gabriel and Gladi are fighting for their case outside with the help of sponsors and Jose was deported to his hometown in Honduras. In Jan. 2020 I was able to reunite with Gladimir and Andrea in San Diego and Gabriel in Texas.
The objective is to continue to document their adaptation to a new culture, language and the "american dream", which has been more complicated than expected, thru phone -calls while distant, and when possible their daily lives, along with Jose´s re-adaptation to home after a journey of self-discovery.
* This is a transmedia project with the intention to do a long format documentary and a parallel photo essay with medium format and digital images.
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