In the summer of 2015, photo journalist Ruben Espinosa was murdered near my home in Mexico City. Espinosa lived and worked in the state of Veracruz, reporting on local politics and anti-government protests. After receiving several death threats and warnings, he fled to the then supposedly safe capital of Mexico. On July 31, 2015, he, his three roommates and the cleaning lady were found dead in his apartment in the Narvarte district. All victims were tortured and executed with shots in the head.

Up to this point, I only knew the extreme violence, disappearances and killings of people from the media or from what friends told me when they reported on the Mexican provinces where the war against the drug cartels had been raging for years. With the death of Espinosa, the violence had somehow reached my neighborhood. At the time I was living in Mexico City for over 5 years and although I did some tourist trips I didn’t really know most of the country. I wondered how people would live far away from the capital where violence was commonplace. What traces of omnipresent poverty and inequality, corruption and violence would I find there?

I decided to take the camera on several trips and in the 12 months I was traveling just for this project, I’ve been to over a dozen states. Although I never met Espinosa, he often accompanied me in my thoughts. This resulted in the Narvarte series, a kind of loose diary, visual anecdotes, inspired, among other things, by Hemingway’s short stories, the collection of which accompanied me on my travels.

www.michaelwilloefer.com

Aug 6 — 14, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, August 5, 5 pm
Finissage: Sunday, August 14, 1 – 8 pm

Galerie erstererster

Pappelallee 69, 10437 Berlin
[District: Prenzlauer Berg | Borough: Pankow]

Opening hours: Daily 1 – 8 pm, Sat & Sun 10 am – 8 pm

Admission free