Vista frontal del taxi. En la ciudad muchos materiales se reciclan. Serie del año 2013-2014.
my taxi while working as a driver and this rent was very excessive and still
remain so today. Now, in 2017, I am no longer a taxi driver, but I remember
that in my daily work as a taxi driver I did not mind carrying something
unusual to make up the payment of the fare. There were taxi drivers who were
somewhat fussy about taking some things like food or animals because they were
dirty or it made things too complicated. Sometimes people came to give me food
in gratitude for taking them to their houses as well as paying the fare, and on
one occasion a person left a suitcase which I later returned. In itself each
object represents a unique story, one of many anecdotes that I experienced in
my work as a taxi driver in the city of Monterrey. During those 10 years I
asked many times for the opportunity to own a concession, but the corruption
and the authorities create impenetrable barriers so I never succeeded. This
happens to thousands of taxi drivers in my state. But anyway I keep these
anecdotal images of all those adventures that I had as a taxi driver in the
city of Monterrey.
the metropolis, now these outskirts are part of the metropolitan area. As a
child I always wanted to draw or write, as an adult photography became my great
passion. When I started to rent a taxi and also take photographs it was very
exciting for me to get to know the outskirts of my city, I never before went to
those places, it was a bit like seeing through
a window my past life in what those areas were. When I started to work as a
taxi driver if I had never driven a car before and I learnt to drive in my
first rented taxi. Everything was very exciting for me, taking photos of these
areas, discovering new places I had never seen - despite living in this city,
everything was new, But it was also sad to see the kind of life people lived
here and I liked to record that and then try to send pictures to public
officials or people who might have political power to transform these places
and improve opportunities. I was thinking that in the future I might see the
other side of life in my state when I finally got a good work opportunity but
so far I I never did. These are images of my passing through this region, my
own state, one that is known to be the most industrially and economically
powerful in my country.
I have worked as a taxi driver for a long time. Taking advantage of this, I carried out this series of pictures through the window of my taxi. Mainly I have photographed the poorer areas of Nuevo León, Mexico, where I too lived in my childhood, so like a self portrait in a way. Nevertheless I would like to expand this series and give expression to the other extreme, the other reality of this area.
Because of a recent car accident I have lost my taxi work. Right now I am looking to earn my living as a photographer. Only an opportunity, the same thing that so many of the people in my photographs need too.
I lived in the street for a while. Now as a photographer I want to make these street people visible, this is my humble intention so we don't forget that they are there. Some are in process of being forgotten changing into living invisible beings, some are just passing through, others have a story that you would not beleive, some remain in a transitional state en search of a better future but achieving in fact the opposite, perhaps erroneously. It's all about healping with, say, a haircut, a bath, a bit of clothing, a coffee, some shelter - but sometimes their need is very extreme and they require something more than these gifts given with love but of course only momentarily.
I lived in the street for only a little while but that short time was really hard, very difficult. One suffered a lot, and my recovery was very slow over many years, even today I am still recovering. What kind of society and institutions would would want to invest time in someone who lives in the street, in any country? Many people make a very hard judgement about them without knowing anything about them or about their vulnerability. If only some of these street people could be rescued, rescued just at the exact moment their condemned lives were about to end, then instead of having them adorning our cities and streets showing off our insensitivity as a society, instead we would give them an opportunity and be able to see them in a completely different situation.
