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Israel Fuguemann

Journalist & Photographer
   
Not Without Us: Chronicle of an Earthquake
Location: Colombia
Nationality: Mexican
Biography: Journalist and documentary photographer.  In the last years his work focused on social and environmental themes, especially documenting people and cultures in resistance, and the always more extensive reality of extractivism of raw materials... MORE
Public Story
Not Without Us: Chronicle of an Earthquake
Copyright Israel Fuguemann 2024
Updated Sep 2017
Location Mexico City
Topics City, Collapse, Crisis, Documentary, Earthquake, Family, Help, Hope, Humanitarian crisis, Journalism, Landslide, Latin america, Mexico, Mexico city, People, Photojournalism, Tragedy
Summary
"Not without us" is a photographic chronicle of what happened in the hours and days after the earthquake in Mexico, but it is also a tribute to thousands of people who, in the sum of their efforts, "helping" as a common goal, made it posible to highlight the human spirit in the face of adversity. Portraits will never be enough to show everyone, but each one of them who appears in the photographs dignifies all the others. These faces and these people are a reflection and symbolic representation of many more, who, from anonymity, supported those fatal days.

On September 19th, 2017, an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 ML (seismological scale of magnitude of movement) shook the central zone of Mexico; it left a balance of 369 people dead, more than 7 thousand injured, and economic losses close to 8 billion dollars and thousands of families homeless due to collapses and structural damage to hundreds of homes and buildings.

On the same day and month, but thirty-two years after the first earthquake in 1985, Mexico shook again. What followed the earthquake were days and nights without rest, rivers of people swimming through rubble and ruins of what had previously been lives lived and houses inhabited which, after just a minute, would not be the same again.

Even with the previous experience of previous natural disasters, the Mexican government was overwhelmed to respond with the necessary immediacy to the earthquake. Given this, as had happened in 1985, citizens began to organize spontaneously to help in the search and rescue of victims, but also in the collection of food, medicines, and tools for those affected.

Workers, housewives, office workers, students (among many other hobbies and professions) lost their particular faces for several days. The earthquake achieved that, at least for some time, the social classes so diverse, marked, and divided in this country were diluted without distinctions to help and be supported, each one from their possibilities and capacities.

"Not without us" is a photographic chronicle of what happened in the hours and days after the earthquake in Mexico, but it is also a tribute to thousands of people who, in the sum of their efforts, "helping" as a common goal, made it possible to highlight the human spirit in the face of adversity. 

Portraits will never be enough to show everyone, but each one of them who appears in the photographs dignifies all the others. These faces and these people are a reflection and symbolic representation of many more, who, from anonymity, supported those fatal days. 
El 19 de septiembre de 2017, un terremoto de magnitud 7.1 ML (escala sismológica de magnitud de movimiento) sacudió la zona central de México que dejó como saldo 369 personas muertas, más de 7 mil heridas, pérdidas económicas cercanas a los 8 mil millones de dólares y miles de familias sin hogar debido los derrumbes y daños en las estructurales en cientos de casas y edificios.

El mismo día y mes, pero treinta y dos años después del primer temblor de 1985, México volvió a estremecerse. Lo que siguió al terremoto fueron días y noches sin descanso, ríos de personas nadando entre escombros y ruinas de lo que antes habían sido vidas vividas y casas habitadas, los cuales, pasado tan sólo un minuto, no volverían a ser las mismas. 

Aún con la experiencia previa de desastre naturales anteriores, el gobierno mexicano se vio rebasado para responder con la inmediatez necesaria ante el sismo. Ante esto, tal como había ocurrido en 1985, la ciudadanía comenzó a organizarse espontáneamente para ayudar en la búsqueda y rescate de víctimas, pero también en el acopio de víveres, medicamentos y herramientas para los afectados.

Obreros, amas de casa, oficinistas, estudiantes (entre muchas otras aficiones y profesiones) perdieron su rostro particular durante varios días. El terremoto logró que, al menos por algún tiempo, las clases sociales tan diversas, marcadas y divididas en este país se diluyeron sin distinciones para ayudar y ser apoyado, cada una desde sus posibilidades y capacidades.

“No sin nosotros” es una crónica fotográfica de lo ocurrido las horas y días posteriores al terremoto en México, pero también es un homenaje para miles de personas que, en la suma de sus esfuerzos, “ayudando” como objetivo en común, hicieron posible destacar el espíritu humano ante la adversidad. 

 Nunca alcanzarán los retratos para mostrar a todas y a todos,  pero cada uno que aparece en las fotografías dignifica a todos los demás. Estos rostros y estas personas son reflejo y representación simbólica de muchas más, que desde el anonimato, apoyaron aquellos días fatales. 
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Not Without Us: Chronicle of an Earthquake by Israel Fuguemann
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