Lexi Parra

Documentary Photographer, Visual Storyteller, Community Educator

#CuentosdeCuarantena: Experimenting in Storytelling from Home

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Location: Caracas, Venezuela / New York City, US

Nationality: US, Venezuelan

Biography: Lexi Parra is a Venezuelan-American photographer and community educator based between Caracas and New York. Her work focuses on youth culture, migration, the personal effects of inequality and violence, and themes of resilience. Parra has worked... MORE

"I'm sorry lov...mmunicating with loved ones. .

1 of 5 © 2024 Lexi Parra

"I'm sorry love, just calling to say hi. And talk about some shitty things that have been going on - I wanted to vent, I hope you're well. And sorry, I know it's late."

15 April 2020

A dear friend called. We were able to talk the next morning. Normally we see each other every week, but since the quarantine started over a month ago, I've been stuck on the other side of town. My friend lives in a barrio near where we both often work. He let it all out: the gang killed a cop, now the state forces are seeking revenge. Innocent people have died. He walks to work, at least a few times a week, despite the quarantine. No buses or motos are allowed to pass. There are checkpoints. Its risky. The virus is just the newest of a long list of threats...He says, "There's no breath. No time to rest, or process." After he exhales the anxiety that has been building up, I offer love and support that doesn't feel at all helpful or enough, but I try. He tells me about the pillowcases and blankets he is sewing. "I found my talent," he jokes. The colors, textures, using his hands - it's a welcome distraction.

This image was inspired by this conversation with my friend. It came from love, a sense of helplessness, a want to tell these complicated stories about the realities of quarantine through a way that feels authentic and safe, reflecting the ways we are sharing and communicating with loved ones. .

"By 7pm, it looks like...communicating with loved ones.

2 of 5 © 2024 Lexi Parra

"By 7pm, it looks like a cemetery. It's kind of funny and sad - we are in quarantine anyway. The malandros [gangs] are at war." #CuentosDeCuarantena

"A las 7, ya es como un cementerio. Es medio cómico, y triste - ya nos estamos resguardando en la casa. Los malandros nos han caído encima." .

I was asked to do some phone reporting, so I took it as a chance to call my friends and see how they are holding up during the quarantine. My friend, a joyous strong woman, told me about the gang war in her neighborhood as if it was just another fact. She told me about it with a dark humor that only a Venezuelan could. She goes to work and, sure, she's nervous about the virus. But the more immediate threat: the groups of sixty guys patrolling her area, armed with big rifles. Her neighborhood isn't controlled by anyone, so its prime territory. She moved on to talk about the rosary prayers she was doing with her neighbors - to pray for health, for her family and for Venezuela to come out of this okay.

This image was inspired by that conversation with my friend. The photograph was taken months ago, the handwritten quote done in post. It came from love, a sense of helplessness, a want to tell these complicated stories about the realities of quarantine through a way that feels authentic and safe, reflecting the ways we are sharing and communicating with loved ones.

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Public Story

#CuentosdeCuarantena: Experimenting in Storytelling from Home

Copyright Lexi Parra 2024

Updated May 2020

Topics Conceptual, Covid-19, Documentary, Domestic Violence, Emotion, Experiment, Featured Film, Freedom, Gangs, Hope, Latin America, Mixed Medium, Pandemics, Photojournalism, Quarantine, Reporting, Venezuela

This series of diptychs, videos + collages are a reaction to the difficult layers of reality during quarantine in a country already plagued by violence, hyperinflation + political polarization.

Venezuela is unlike any other country in dealing with COVID-19: we have corruption by state bodies, a failing economy making quarantine nearly impossible for many + world leaders adding insult to injury with sanctions that are having a very real effect on our population.

While I am lucky to stay home, Caracas is a context we get by in because of our people - our relationships, friendships. So the distance has an impact. Friends have been sharing stories - some of the little joys, others of the constant faint stress + even more of the explosions of violence/uncertainty that is happening in some of the more infamous barrios. These visual experiments are a way to deal with the distance, show these timely, important stories safely + authentically .... collaboration in quarantine.

This work was featured in Fotodemic Quarantine Diaries and exhibited in Mirar Distinto, virtually in Veracruz, Mexico.

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Also by Lexi Parra —

queens of caracas

Lexi Parra / Caracas, Venezuela

May 1, 2019 - Apr 5, 2020

resilience: a family of nurses in caracas' COVID-19 lockdown

Lexi Parra / Caracas, Venezuela

Jun 10, 2020 -

the unveiling of us

May 12, 2020

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