documenting worlds
photography by annie appel
film-based work *
film-based work *
| María, Carmelita, Alex |
| María, Jaime, Annie |
| Jaime |
| Jaime |
María, Jaime, Carmelita,Jaime's mother, Pinto
| Maria |
| Maria |
| Doña Lupe |
| Doña Lupe and grandchildren |
| Carlos |
| Carlos |
| Andres, Angélica, Carmelita |
| Carmelita |
| Doña Lupe, Angélica, Alex, Marta |
| Angélica, Alex, Lupe |
| Carmelita, Carlos, Alex, Maria |
| Carmelita |
| Cristina |
| Carmelita, Angelica |
| Carmelita,Diego |
The Mexico Journeys (1994-present)*
The project began with a chance encounter. In
summer 1994, while traveling in Baja, Mexico, I
met María. Eight months pregnant and
accompanied by two young daughters, she was
trudging up a dirt road to take lunch to her
husband. I offered water and drawing pencils.
In exchange, they invited me to join them. The
family lived in a two-room, adobe house that
Jaime, Maria's husband, had built of bricks he
made from local clay. I believed they had a more
immediate kind of life than I did. Their humanity
seemed more raw than what I knew. I promised
myself to document their world for a decade.
That commitment stretched to two decades.
During my 23 visits, spaced according to my
resources, my cameras and journals tracked life
transitions. I imagined the outcome as a simple,
yet universal, story: One family, their war on
poverty, and the broad devastation wrought by
generations of illiteracy. The work shifted over
time to include a tale of friendship, trust, and
how strangers become family.
VIDEO
ESSAY
The project began with a chance encounter. In
summer 1994, while traveling in Baja, Mexico, I
met María. Eight months pregnant and
accompanied by two young daughters, she was
trudging up a dirt road to take lunch to her
husband. I offered water and drawing pencils.
In exchange, they invited me to join them. The
family lived in a two-room, adobe house that
Jaime, Maria's husband, had built of bricks he
made from local clay. I believed they had a more
immediate kind of life than I did. Their humanity
seemed more raw than what I knew. I promised
myself to document their world for a decade.
That commitment stretched to two decades.
During my 23 visits, spaced according to my
resources, my cameras and journals tracked life
transitions. I imagined the outcome as a simple,
yet universal, story: One family, their war on
poverty, and the broad devastation wrought by
generations of illiteracy. The work shifted over
time to include a tale of friendship, trust, and
how strangers become family.
VIDEO
ESSAY
