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Los Cafetaleros
Los Cafetaleros contains images from a trip I made to the coffee growing regions in southern Mexico. The villages are small and the poverty is the worst I've ever seen. Although most people in these regions are growing organic, gourmet coffee, they're earning less than $2 a day.
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El Campo: Chiapas
I spent five days with Nicolás, Catalina and their family in Amaquil, a ranchería about an hour and a half ride from San Cristóbal, Chiapas. A ranchería is often referred to as a "community"; really more a collection of widely spaced houses than a village. Campesinos here are of Mayan descent and speak Tzelatal. The main cash crop is coffee and campesinos belong to a fair trade co-op called Kulaktik.
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El Campo: Morelos
Morelos was the first state I visited during this project. I was in San Augustin, a tiny village and Tlalquiltenango, a medium-sized city. I photographed people working in nopal (an edible cactus), jicama and sugar cane.
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El Campo: Tabasco
I spent five days in Tabasco, mostly in a rancheria called Villaflores. A rancheria isn't really even a village. The houses are widely spaced and there's no zocalo, or town square. The region is known for its cacao but a fungal infection has decreased production by 80%. There are few options for campesinos.
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El Campo: Puebla
I spent a week in Cuetzalan, a lovely village in the mountains of Puebla. Tosepan Titataniske (a Nahuatl phrase meaning "Together We Will Overcome") is a Fair Trade Cooperative there, selling coffee, honey and black pepper among other things. They also have an ecotourist site called Tosepankali, which is just outside of the village. Tosepan does a lot of great things in the area; in addition to promoting Fair Trade, they have a bank which offers low interest loans to campesinos, they promote sustainable living and women's rights.
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Serafina, Santiago Yancuictlalpan, Puebla
I spent several days in villages near Cuetzalan, Puebla; one of these was Santiago Yancuictlalpan. I wanted to document what it's like for women in el campo, especially women whose husbands have left to find work outside the village. Serafina's husband is in Puebla and she hasn't seen him in several years. It's not clear if he left for economic reasons but she gets no support from him nor from anyone else. She has about an acre of land, growing coffee to sell; beans, corn and other vegetables for the family to eat. She has 3 daughters at home. She works 8-10 hours Monday-Saturday, 4-5 hours on Sunday and earns about $10 a week.
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Portraits
These are a collection of the portraits and head shots I've done over the years.
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Weddings
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Newspaper & Magazine Work
I freelance for several local newspapers and magazines. This portfolio has some of my favorite shots in it.
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Newspaper & Magazine Work-2
These are photos I've taken while documenting the lives of farmworkers in western NY. This year I've been primarily interested in what it's like for Mexican women working on farms here.
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Mexico Color-1
Mexico is such a beautiful country that you just have to shoot color once in awhile.
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Mexico Color-2
These are shots from my most recent trip to Mexico, which was March-April, 2010.
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