Recording personal stories of US 鈥榠llegals鈥
Print Edition
During a decade as a janitor at a US border station, Tom Kiefer gathered the trash left behind by thousands of undocumented immigrants, piecing together the histories of those who arrived seeking a better life.
Everyday objects from clothes, medicine and toys to handwritten letters were confiscated by officials as dangerous or 鈥渘on-essential鈥 items, leaving photography student Kiefer to sift through fragments of their owners鈥 struggles.
鈥淓l Sueno Americano/The American Dream鈥 at Los Angeles鈥檚 Skirball Cultural Center through March displays more than 100 photographs of these remnants, which the artist collected in secret at the Ajo, Arizona station between 2003 and 2014.
From a distance, many of the works look like abstract modern art but peer more closely and the contents become clear: in one, dozens of syringes and cartons containing pills and ointments are carefully laid out across a bright yellow canvas.
Close by, around 50 toothbrushes 鈥 some extremely worn-out and filthy 鈥 are arranged on a blue background.
Another photograph captures cell phones of all shapes, sizes and technologies spanning the decade.
For Dominga Rodriguez, a 48-year-old who crossed through the desert from Mexico鈥檚 Oaxaca state almost 30 years ago, it is easy to picture the faces of these items鈥 owners.
鈥淚t鈥檚 emotional because I also came in the same way,鈥 she told AFP as she visited the exhibition, her voice cracking. 鈥淲e left our clothes, combs, wallets, phone numbers, not knowing if we were coming back or not.鈥
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants are detained while crossing into the US from Mexico each year.
鈥淥ne of the things I think these photographs remind us of is that even small injustices can be the first step on a path toward things that are totally inhumane,鈥 said curator Laura Mart.
鈥淚t may seem like not a big deal to take away somebody鈥檚 shoelaces or to take away somebody鈥檚 toothbrush. But when you start doing that, it makes you accept that treating people that way is OK.鈥
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