Trench 2020
A PHOTOGRAPHIC AND COLLECTIVE PROJECT THAT PRESENTS WOMEN, NON-BINARY INDIVIDUALS, YOUNG PEOPLE, GIRLS, AND BABIES, UNITED, STRONG, RESILIENT, AND DIVERSE
Trinchera (Trench) is a participatory, photo-based project I created to address gender violence in Mexico by highlighting the dignity of women, girls, and babies. Through a united, joyful, and respectful representation, participants stand with their arms intertwined, forming a trench as a political statement.
Over a hundred participants engaged with the project, using the space to write slogans on their bodies, display feminist flags, and express their demands. It became an exercise in self-representation, where the final images reveal bodies that, without aesthetic editing, reclaim public space to portray real, everyday people.
I invited participants to reflect collectively on the significance of occupying public space. Their thoughts are captured in the texts they wrote during the photographic sessions, which also included time for interaction and engagement with each other.
The project was commissioned by the 2020 Tiempo de Mujeres Festival and has since been displayed on a train of Mexico City's subway system (STCM). Additionally, the individual portraits were installed at the Glorieta de Insurgentes for a year.
Documentation: Installation at the Glorieta de Insurgentes, Mexico City, Mexico
Images: more than 100 adult women, non binary individuals, young women, girls and babies
Documentation: Trench in Mexico City´s Subway System, Pink line, Mexico City, Mexico.
Video about the project
Documentation: Installation on a train of Mexico City´s Subway System (pink line 1), Mexico City, Mexico.
Process: photo shoots and assembly on the Subway train.
Presentation(s)
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Permanent installation on a subway train, Metro STCM Pink Line 1, Mexico City, Mexico
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Intervention at Glorieta de Insurgentes, Mexico City, Mexico
Year
2020
Collaborators
Project created in collaboration with the 2nd edition of the Tiempo de Mujeres Festival
Credits
Post-production and photo retouching
Cerrucha
Laia Rius
Iliana Rodríguez
Photo documentation
Cerrucha
Lupe Olaya
Video documentation
Cerrucha
Mauricio Ocádiz
Lupe Olaya
Patricia Balderas
Video editing
Pablo León
Video created with the support of FONCA—Programa Contigo en la Distancia of the Mexican Ministry of Culture
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Carbón 4 studio for sharing their space for the last photo session, for their support and participation. Thanks to Ricardo and Gloria for their trust.
Thanks to all the participants for their trust, enthusiasm, presence, reflections, and collaboration.