Today I will be talking about an event I went to in New York, it was called “i3 Photo Lecture: Griselda San Martín”, and it was presented by MPS Digital Photography which images, ideas, inspiration lecture series features leading photographers and artists, hardware and software developers and industry experts.
Griselda San Martín is a Spanish documentary photographer who lives in New York City right now. In addition, throughout San Martín’s past six years, she has documented the U.S.–Mexico border, focusing on the issues of immigration, deportation, inequality and human rights abuses through an optic of identity and belonging. Also, you can see her photography and video projects have been exhibited internationally and featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Republic and The California Sunday Magazine among many others.
In this i3 photo lecture event, she talked a little bit about herself, the immigrants between the US and Mexico’s border, transnationalism, and collaborations. From this event, I learned the other side of the border wall for those Mexico immigrants between them and their older family which the young generation immigrants came from their country Mexico to the US who tired to live in freedom, to practice their religion freely, to escape poverty or oppression, and to make better lives, education, better job opportunities, etc for themselves and their children as well. But on the other hand, they have just separated from their old generation, and most of the Mexico grandmother and grandfather doesn’t even have the chance to meet with their sons, daughters and grandchildren. The only way is from the border wall between Mexico and the US, and some of the family only can meet a few times a year, some of the family haven’t met 20 to 30 years which they all miss their family members too much and the only way they can do is pray each other to be healthy and safe, so this was cost and issues for those immigration. In this event, Griselda San Martín not only showed us her photography, she also showed us a video that very inspired us, and what I learned from her is sometimes it doesn’t what language you are, what’s matter is the message you want to give and the stories you want to share. Also try to give different feedback from others because they might shape you for your next project, and don’t be afraid to try things you never do before because you never know what is the result you will get in the future.
