Not everyone’s daily commute includes a comfortable air conditioned environment, morning talk radio and an office at the end. Mexican photographer Alejandro Cartagena captures many of these people from overpasses near his home-base in Monterrey, just as the trucks that carry them pass under his talented lens. These workers head to construction sites, landscaping jobs and field work packed into the back of truck beds with the tools of their trade, while they catch a few last minutes of sleep before the long day of manual labor. It captures a world that many of us miss… even as they pass us on the freeway.
Cartagena’s photographs gently reveal to us many of the deep social, urban and environmental issues our world faces. In this case, through their cleverly repeated compositions, his images subtly reveal a poignant world of people who too often go overlooked, yet make much of our society function the way it does. It draws us into one moment of important lives, begging us to look closer and wonder about what the rest of their day holds and igniting curiosity about their hopes, dreams and aspirations for life.
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Cartagena has been the recipient of numerous national grants, honorable mentions and awards both at home and abroad. Maybe this is because his works so powerfully touch on aspects of the human spirit while remaining accessible to all. In 2009 he won the Critical Mass book award, and was named one of PDN´s 30 emerging photographers. As he continues to produce influential and inspiring work, he is also teaching in the faculty for visual arts at the University of Nuevo Leon. You can see more of his work, which centers around the Latin American landscape and its people, at alejandrocartagena.com.
