Introduction
A Map of Latin American Dreams explores the desires and hopes of individuals throughout Latin America. The project consists of many trips, beginning in 1992 and continuing through 2008, to Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Brazil, and Colombia. A Map of Latin American Dreams explores the desires and hopes of individuals throughout Latin America. The project consists of many trips, beginning in 1992 and continuing through 2008, to Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Brazil, and Colombia... I photographed families, groups, and individuals who are represented and acknowledged via collaborative portraits, including texts that anchor their history and personal stories. Their voices are expressed on a hand held blackboard with chalk writing responding to the request, "Can you write down a wish or a dream that you have?" I asked those assembled before my camera to be personal and specific in their own words. The project looks to amplify the voices of the under-represented, to give them dimension through personal stories. The photographs and texts reflect upon the history of past decades in each country, and how individual lives have been directly touched and altered by local, national and regional traumatic events and policies. The people of these territories are subject to the ideologies, political conflicts, and economic practices that engulf them, shaping their daily experience and expectations for the future. There is hope despite despair, there are dreams as yet unrealized, and mourning for those lives lost or disappeared. I hope to create a bridge of understanding, bringing viewers to recognize the continuing need for social justice and reconciliation.
