Mexico: the first time

These photographs were taken in July 2003, in and around Monterrey, Mexico. I traveled by bus from Austin, Texas, crossing the Rio Grande, which provided my first experience outside the United States.

These images represent the beginning of what I now consider to be my most invested work; I am striving to continuously construct an informed, meticulous, and motivating photographic survey of cultural, social, political and geographic interchanges between the United States, Mexico, and Central America. My interest in this began when I received a student grant to travel to Monterrey, Mexico. This voyage taught me that I knew very little about my country’s neighbors and I have since been deliberately learning about what happened and what is happening in our interdependent societies.

From a series of about 25 photographs, those in this group were exhibited in spring 2004, just before I finished my undergraduate studies. I received an additional research grant to experiment with different photographic papers and printing methods.

Many thanks to Dr. Harry and Mrs. Anne Paxton, for granting the travel award, and to Carnegie Mellon University’s Undergraduate Research Initiative, for granting the research and exhibition funding.