Mexican Odyssey
This work explores the physical and psychological odyssey of the Mexican people. Having lived in Mexico for 6 years I have witnessed daily life away from international headlines.
With strong family values and deeply religious beliefs, Mexicans often choose to undergo great risk in order to provide for their families, whether it be traveling great distances to find work, or participating in religious pilgrimages to seek God's help in personal matters. Either way the pilgrimage is an important and deeply personal choice and experience. Often separated from loved ones for great and unknown lengths of time, the individuals in their journeys undergo enormous physical, emotional and financial strain -- strain felt both by those who leave and those who are left behind. Like Odysseus, they undergo journeys that often meander far from course and become fraught with extreme despair and joy, pain and pleasure alike.
In this series I photograph individuals who are in some process of a journey, often pausing in a moment of ritualized behavior. I also photograph places and altars that signify home for most Mexicans. In this sense the Mexican Odyssey is heavily religious in tone and, even if occurring close to home, no less of an odyssey.