honorable mention
Griselda San Martin united states
title
The Wall
When the park was inaugurated in 1971, the fence was just a strand of barbed wire that served as a boundary marker discouraging unauthorized movement across the border. Families would gather on both sides to share a meal passing ‘tamales’ and Mexican candy back and forth. Today, a massive metal wall that has been reinforced multiple times since the 1990s separates the two nations. It extends down to the beach stretching out some three hundred feet into the Pacific Ocean. Access to physically touch the wall on the U.S. side is limited to a small area and families lean against the fence trying to catch a glimpse of their loved ones through the steel mesh which is so tightly woven that they can barely touch fingertips. Couples quietly whisper on each other’s ears in a desperate attempt to find some privacy while Border Patrol agents walk back and forth in what appears to be some kind of prison yard on visiting day.
‘The Wall’ examines these border interactions at a time of rising xenophobic political climate where border enforcement practices have reshaped public spaces through a logic of detention and containment. Because of the mainstream media’s negative portrayal, immigrants are often conceived of as a fundamental threat to American identity and culture. My aim is to reveal the human side of immigration and to challenge popular assumptions and dominant media discourses. My photographs confront the viewer with a different reality. Families are being shattered as a result of a broken immigration system. My goal is to provoke thought and inspire social justice.
She has received several scholarships to develop her projects, such as the Beverly Sears scholarship in Boulder, Colorado and the George and Joyce Moss Scholarship in New York.
She was awarded second place at the Gender and Justice competition held by the Supreme Court of Mexico, United Nations Women, United Nations Human Rights of Mexico and several other organizations in November 2014.
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entry description
The Wall’ is a photography project that documents families separated by immigration status who meet at Friendship park, the only federally established binational meeting place along the 2,000-mile border dividing the United States and Mexico.When the park was inaugurated in 1971, the fence was just a strand of barbed wire that served as a boundary marker discouraging unauthorized movement across the border. Families would gather on both sides to share a meal passing ‘tamales’ and Mexican candy back and forth. Today, a massive metal wall that has been reinforced multiple times since the 1990s separates the two nations. It extends down to the beach stretching out some three hundred feet into the Pacific Ocean. Access to physically touch the wall on the U.S. side is limited to a small area and families lean against the fence trying to catch a glimpse of their loved ones through the steel mesh which is so tightly woven that they can barely touch fingertips. Couples quietly whisper on each other’s ears in a desperate attempt to find some privacy while Border Patrol agents walk back and forth in what appears to be some kind of prison yard on visiting day.
‘The Wall’ examines these border interactions at a time of rising xenophobic political climate where border enforcement practices have reshaped public spaces through a logic of detention and containment. Because of the mainstream media’s negative portrayal, immigrants are often conceived of as a fundamental threat to American identity and culture. My aim is to reveal the human side of immigration and to challenge popular assumptions and dominant media discourses. My photographs confront the viewer with a different reality. Families are being shattered as a result of a broken immigration system. My goal is to provoke thought and inspire social justice.
about the photographer
Griselda San Martin is a documentary photographer and visual journalist based in New York City and Tijuana, Mexico. She studied Business Administration at Esade Business School in Barcelona and graduated with an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2013. She has been photographing and documenting the U.S.-Mexico border for the past three years. In June 2015 she graduated from the the Photojournalism and Documentary photography program at the International Center of Photography in New York. Her documentary work explores transborder and transnational issues and focuses on concepts of identity and belonging in diasporic communities and ethnic minorities.She has received several scholarships to develop her projects, such as the Beverly Sears scholarship in Boulder, Colorado and the George and Joyce Moss Scholarship in New York.
She was awarded second place at the Gender and Justice competition held by the Supreme Court of Mexico, United Nations Women, United Nations Human Rights of Mexico and several other organizations in November 2014.
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