Made in home (2006)

Photography.

This project emerges from the need to examine the strategies and materials employed in the construction of housing in contexts of population displacement, extending beyond the Mexico-United States border.

During my visit to Comuna 8 in Soacha, Bogotá, Colombia, I encountered materials that starkly contrast with those typically seen in Tijuana. Here, corrugated metal, blocks, cardboard, and wood dominate—a materiality that speaks to a distinct, yet equally challenging reality. In these communities, access to social housing programs and the collective efforts of community-driven organization catalyze the construction of living spaces.

The photographs in this series capture these environments through the unique light inherent to each place, aiming to evoke atmospheres that establish narrative bridges between the spaces I’ve photographed in Tijuana and these news sites, far removed from the consumption of discarded materials from maquiladoras and second-hand goods imported from the United States. This visual narrative creates links between two seemingly disparate spaces that, nevertheless, share the common experiences of displacement, precariousness, and the stigma of the periphery. The project aspires to present a series of images that function as mirrors—reflecting correlations and visual dialogues between global realities marked by exclusion, fragility, and resistance.

Project developed during an Art Residency (Intercambio de Residencias Artísticas México-Colombia), supported by the National Endowment for the Arts Mexico and the Ministry of Culture, Colombia.