After September 11, the notion of the “hero” began to rear its head in the public consciousness more and more frequently. The notion served a necessity in a time of national and global crisis to acknowledge those who showed extraordinary courage and determination in the face of danger, sometimes even sacrificing their lives in an attempt to save others. However, in the whirlwind of the medias surrounding front-page disasters and emergencies, it is easy to take for granted the heroes who sacrificed their life for the good of others, but do so in a somewhat less glorified way.
The Mexican immigrant worker in New York is a perfect example of the hero who has gone unnoticed. It is common for a Mexican worker in New York to work extraordinary hours in extreme conditions for very low wages which are saved at great cost and sacrifice and sent to families and communities in Mexico who rely on them to survive.
The Mexican economy has quietly become dependent on the money sent from workers in the US. Conversely, the US economy has quietly become dependent on the labor of Mexican immigrants. Along with the depth of their sacrifice, it is the quietness of this dependence which makes Mexican immigrant workers a subject of interest.
The principal objective of this series is to pay homage to these brave and determined men and women that somehow manage, without the help of any supernatural power, to withstand extreme conditions of labor in order to help their families and communities survive and prosper.
This project consists of 19 color photographs of Mexican immigrants dressed in the costumes of popular American and Mexican superheroes. Each photo pictures the worker/superhero in their work environment, and is accompanied by a short text including the worker’s name, their hometown in Mexico, the number of years they have been working in New York, and the amount of money they send to Mexico each week.
Born in Mexico in 1974, Dulce Pinzón lived in the United States from 1995 – 2011 before returning to Mexico where she currently lives and works. She studied communication and media at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla Mexico and photography at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 1995, she settled in New York where she studied at the International Center of Photography.
La véritable histoire des Super-héros
Dulce Pinzon
Until April 14, 2012
Galerie Clairefontaine
Luxembourg-ville
