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And I know that you make work in and about Monterrey, but thusfar, it’s touched only tangentially on the Chaos, unless I’m mistaken.ĪC: I think precisely because it’s the richest, that’s why it’s the most fucked up at the moment. That’s a big deal, and geo-politically, you’re sitting on the front lines. The guys who ran the country for, what, 100 years or so? You got a new President elected, and the PRI is coming back. JB: The World wants to hear about this stuff, and you’re right there. So you’re based in the wealthiest city in Mexico, which is up there in the Northern desert, in the middle of the Drug War shitstorm. I just learned that Monterrey is the wealthiest city in Mexico, which caught me off guard.
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I can’t bitch too much about my stress because you’re sitting right there too. This thing about having a child, wanting to be in touch again with my roots, it’s bubbling out a lot lately. Weirdly, I’ve been going back to listening to a lot of Merengue music, which is Dominican. And she’s been listening to all this country music and american oldies songs. So she’s this weird NAFTA kid, you know? American/Canadian/Mexican. We don’t know if it’s the baby that’s coming? My wife’s Dad is Canadian, her Mom is American, and she was born here in Mexico. There is a strange thing going on between me and my wife right now. I feel Mexican, I love Mexican food, I love my city, I love my country. How old were you?ĪC: At this point of my life, I’m definitely Mexican. They left Mexico in ’69, and they stayed in the Dominican Republic until 1990. They went back, and me and my other three brothers were born there. But they were obligated to come back to work in the sugar cane factories or any specialized engineering job. There was this big thing in the Dominican Republic in education where the government was giving money out to people to go study abroad. How did you end up in Mexico?ĪC: My Dad came to Monterrey to study in the 60’s. Given your name, and your accent, and the fact that you live in Monterrey, 99% of people will assume you’re Mexican, but your bio says you were born in the Dominican Republic. JB: We kind of launched into this, because my first question was “How are you?,” and here we are. I have the flexibility to still do that, and also do the commercial jobs that bring in some money. One here in Monterrey, and one in Guadalajara. I’d just go out with the medium and large format camera and shoot whatever I wanted. This has pushed me to have an assistant, who knows about lighting, who helps me to produce the shoots. JB: Have you had to change your equipment to make the switch? What are you shooting with?ĪC: Last year, I bought my first big digital camera. That’s where I’m trying to push my commercial work. Not to sell the product, but how you produce your product. You want to show off how nice the design is on something, I can take that out of your product to make it look really nice.
#SUBURBIA MEXICO D.F HOW TO#
What I tell the clients is that I don’t know how to do work that’s used as advertising, but I do know how to do portfolios for your products.
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The farm, the processing plant, the owner, the people working there. Three weeks ago I got a commission to go to El Salvador, to shoot a coffee farm. JB: So your career has shifted because of the success you’ve had as an artist? People have approached you and asked you to do stuff you’ve never done before, and you’re learning on the job?ĪC: Definitely. I don’t want to do too much, but it’s good right now. It makes you understand a little more how an image works. I’m not a particularly good product or advertising photographer, but pushing those limits seems interesting. It’s been really cool to be able to expand my job like that. Right now, I’m shooting chairs for a chic design firm. The hype, the buzz, it helped because people you wouldn’t expect to hire me for jobs are hiring me for stuff. I don’t know how you say it in English?ĪC: Right. I’m doing a lot more commercial work than I expected. Jonathan Blaustein: Are you well? I know you’re busy.Īlejandro Cartagena: Yeah, I’m doing great. “Suburbia Mexicana” was exhibited this Summer at Kopeikin Gallery in LA, and his current project, “Car Poolers,” was published in the NY Times Lens Blog and Lens Culture. His work has been awarded and honored like crazy the last few years. I recently spoke with Mexican photographer Alejandro Cartagena, who’s based in the battle-torn city of Monterrey.