TEDSummit 2019
Jon Lowenstein: Family, hope and resilience on the migrant trail
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For the past 20 years, photographer and TED Fellow Jon Lowenstein has documented the migrant journey from Latin America to the United States, one of the largest transnational migrations in world history. Sharing photos from his decade-long project "Shadow Lives USA," Lowenstein takes us into the inner worlds of the families escaping poverty and violence in Central America -- and pieces together the complex reasons people leave their homes in search of a better life.
Jon Lowenstein - Documentary photographer, filmmaker, visual artist
TED Fellow Jon Lowenstein is a documentary photographer, filmmaker and visual artist whose work reveals what the powers that be are trying to hide. Full bio
TED Fellow Jon Lowenstein is a documentary photographer, filmmaker and visual artist whose work reveals what the powers that be are trying to hide. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
[This talk contains graphic images]
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So I'm sitting across from Pedro,
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the coyote, the human smuggler,
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in his cement block apartment,
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in a dusty Reynosa neighborhood
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somewhere on the US-Mexico border.
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It's 3am.
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The day before, he had asked me
to come back to his apartment.
to come back to his apartment.
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We would talk man to man.
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He wanted me to be there
at night and alone.
at night and alone.
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I didn't know if he was setting me up,
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but I knew I wanted to tell his story.
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He asked me, "What will you do
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if one of these pollitos, or migrants,
slips into the water and can't swim?
slips into the water and can't swim?
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Will you simply take your pictures
and watch him drown?
and watch him drown?
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Or will you jump in and help me?"
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At that moment, Pedro wasn't a cartoonish
TV version of a human smuggler.
TV version of a human smuggler.
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He was just a young man, about my age,
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asking me some really tough questions.
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This was life and death.
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The next night, I photographed Pedro
as he swam the Rio Grande,
as he swam the Rio Grande,
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crossing with a group of young migrants
into the United States.
into the United States.
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Real lives hung in the balance
every time he crossed people.
every time he crossed people.
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For the last 20 years,
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I've documented one of the largest
transnational migrations
transnational migrations
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in world history,
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which has resulted in millions
of undocumented people
of undocumented people
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living in the United States.
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The vast majority of these people
leave Central America and Mexico
leave Central America and Mexico
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to escape grinding poverty
and extreme levels of social violence.
and extreme levels of social violence.
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I photograph intimate moments
of everyday people's lives,
of everyday people's lives,
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of people living in the shadows.
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Time and again, I've witnessed
resilient individuals
resilient individuals
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in extremely challenging situations
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constructing practical ways
to improve their lives.
to improve their lives.
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With these photographs,
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I place you squarely in the middle
of these moments
of these moments
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and ask you to think about them
as if you knew them.
as if you knew them.
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This body of work
is a historical document,
is a historical document,
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a time capsule that can teach us
not only about migration,
not only about migration,
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but about society and ourselves.
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I started the project in the year 2000.
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The migrant trail has taught me
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how we treat our most vulnerable
residents in the United States.
residents in the United States.
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It has taught me about violence
and pain and hope and resilience
and pain and hope and resilience
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and struggle and sacrifice.
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It has taught me firsthand
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that rhetoric and political policy
directly impact real people.
directly impact real people.
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And most of all,
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the migrant trail has taught me
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that everyone who embarks on it
is changed forever.
is changed forever.
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I began this project in the year 2000
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by documenting a group of day laborers
on Chicago’s Northwest side.
on Chicago’s Northwest side.
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Each day, the men would wake up at 5am,
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go to a McDonald's,
where they would stand outside
where they would stand outside
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and wait to jump
into strangers' work vans,
into strangers' work vans,
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in the hopes of finding a job for the day.
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They earned five dollars an hour,
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had no job security, no health insurance
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and were almost all undocumented.
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The men were all pretty tough.
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They had to be.
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The police constantly
harassed them for loitering,
harassed them for loitering,
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as they made their way each day.
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Slowly, they welcomed me
into their community.
into their community.
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And this was one of the first times
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that I consciously used
my camera as a weapon.
my camera as a weapon.
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One day, as the men were organizing
to make a day-labor worker center,
to make a day-labor worker center,
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a young man named Tomás
came up to me and asked me
came up to me and asked me
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will I stay afterwards and photograph him.
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So I agreed.
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As he walked into the middle
of the empty dirt lot,
of the empty dirt lot,
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a light summer rain started to fall.
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Much to my surprise, he started
to take off his clothes. (Laughs)
to take off his clothes. (Laughs)
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I didn't exactly know what to do.
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He pointed to the sky and said,
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"Our bodies are all we have."
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He was proud, defiant
and vulnerable, all at once.
and vulnerable, all at once.
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And this remains one of my
favorite photographs of the past 20 years.
favorite photographs of the past 20 years.
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His words have stuck with me ever since.
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I met Lupe Guzmán around the same time,
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while she was organizing
and fighting the day-labor agencies
and fighting the day-labor agencies
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which were exploiting her
and her coworkers.
and her coworkers.
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She organized small-scale protests,
sit-ins and much more.
sit-ins and much more.
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She paid a high price for her activism,
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because the day-labor agencies like Ron's
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blackballed her
and refused to give her work.
and refused to give her work.
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So in order to survive,
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she started selling elotes,
or corn on the cob, on the street,
or corn on the cob, on the street,
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as a street vendor.
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And today, you can still find her
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selling all types of corn
and different candies and stuff.
and different candies and stuff.
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Lupe brought me into
the inner world of her family
the inner world of her family
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and showed me
the true impact of migration.
the true impact of migration.
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She introduced me to everyone
in her extended family,
in her extended family,
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Gabi, Juan, Conchi, Chava, everyone.
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Her sister Remedios had married Anselmo,
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whose eight of nine siblings
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had migrated from Mexico
to Chicago in the nineties.
to Chicago in the nineties.
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So many people in her family
opened their world to me
opened their world to me
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and shared their stories.
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Families are the heart and lifeblood
of the migrant trail.
of the migrant trail.
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When these families migrate,
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they change and transform societies.
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It's rare to be able
to access so intimately
to access so intimately
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the intimate and day-to-day lives
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of people who, by necessity,
are closed to outsiders.
are closed to outsiders.
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At the time,
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Lupe's family lived in the insular world
of the Back of the Yards,
of the Back of the Yards,
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a tight-knit Chicago neighborhood,
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which for more than 100 years
had been a portal of entry
had been a portal of entry
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for recent immigrants --
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first, from Europe, like my family,
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and more recently, from Latin America.
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Their world was largely hidden from view.
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And they call the larger,
white world outside the neighborhood
white world outside the neighborhood
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"Gringolandia."
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You know, like lots of generations
moving to the Back of the Yards,
moving to the Back of the Yards,
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the family did the thankless hidden jobs
that most people didn't want to do:
that most people didn't want to do:
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cleaning office buildings,
preparing airline meals in cold factories,
preparing airline meals in cold factories,
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meat packing, demolitions.
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It was hard manual labor
for low exploitation wages.
for low exploitation wages.
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But on weekends, they celebrated together,
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with backyard barbecues
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and birthday celebrations,
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like most working families the world over.
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I became an honorary family member.
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My nickname was "Johnny Canales,"
after the Tejano TV star.
after the Tejano TV star.
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I had access to the dominant culture,
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so I was part family photographer,
part social worker
part social worker
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and part strange outsider payaso clown,
who was there to amuse them.
who was there to amuse them.
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One of the most memorable
moments of this time
moments of this time
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was photographing the birth
of Lupe's granddaughter, Elizabeth.
of Lupe's granddaughter, Elizabeth.
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Her two older siblings had crossed
across the Sonoran Desert,
across the Sonoran Desert,
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being carried and pushed in strollers
into the United States.
into the United States.
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So at that time,
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her family allowed me
to photograph her birth.
to photograph her birth.
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And it was one of the really
coolest things
coolest things
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as the nurses placed
baby Elizabeth on Gabi's chest.
baby Elizabeth on Gabi's chest.
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She was the family's
first American citizen.
first American citizen.
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That girl is 17 today.
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And I still remain
in close contact with Lupe
in close contact with Lupe
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and much of her family.
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My work is firmly rooted
in my own family's history
in my own family's history
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of exile and subsequent rebirth
in the United States.
in the United States.
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My father was born
in Nazi Germany in 1934.
in Nazi Germany in 1934.
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Like most assimilated German Jews,
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my grandparents simply hoped
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that the troubles of
the Third Reich would blow over.
the Third Reich would blow over.
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But in spring of 1939,
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a small but important event
happened to my family.
happened to my family.
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My dad needed an appendectomy.
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And because he was Jewish,
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not one hospital would operate on him.
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The operation was carried out
on his kitchen table,
on his kitchen table,
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on the family's kitchen table.
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Only after understanding
the discrimination they faced
the discrimination they faced
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did my grandparents
make the gut-wrenching decision
make the gut-wrenching decision
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to send their two children
on the Kindertransport bound for England.
on the Kindertransport bound for England.
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My family's survival
has informed my deep commitment
has informed my deep commitment
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to telling this migration story
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in a deep and nuanced way.
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The past and the present
are always interconnected.
are always interconnected.
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The long-standing legacy
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of the US government's
involvement in Latin America
involvement in Latin America
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is controversial and well-documented.
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The 1954 CIA-backed coup
of Árbenz in Guatemala,
of Árbenz in Guatemala,
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the Iran-Contra scandal,
the School of the Americas,
the School of the Americas,
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the murder of Archbishop Romero
on the steps of a San Salvador church
on the steps of a San Salvador church
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are all examples of this complex history,
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a history which has led to instability
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and impunity in Central America.
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Luckily, the history
is not unremittingly dark.
is not unremittingly dark.
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The United States and Mexico
took in thousands and millions, actually,
took in thousands and millions, actually,
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of refugees escaping the civil wars
of the 70s and 80s.
of the 70s and 80s.
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But by the time I was documenting
the migrant trail in Guatemala
the migrant trail in Guatemala
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in the late 2000s,
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most Americans had no connection
to the increasing levels of violence,
to the increasing levels of violence,
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impunity and migration in Central America.
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To most US citizens,
it might as well have been the Moon.
it might as well have been the Moon.
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Over the years, I slowly pieced together
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the complicated puzzle that stretched
from Central America through Mexico
from Central America through Mexico
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to my backyard in Chicago.
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I hit almost all the border towns --
Brownsville, Reynosa, McAllen,
Brownsville, Reynosa, McAllen,
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Yuma, Calexico --
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recording the increasing
militarization of the border.
militarization of the border.
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Each time I returned,
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there was more infrastructure,
more sensors, more fences,
more sensors, more fences,
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more Border Patrol agents
and more high-tech facilities
and more high-tech facilities
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with which to incarcerate
the men, women and children
the men, women and children
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who our government detained.
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Post-9/11, it became a huge industry.
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I photographed the massive and historic
immigration marches in Chicago,
immigration marches in Chicago,
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children at detention facilities
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and the slow percolating rise
of anti-immigrant hate groups,
of anti-immigrant hate groups,
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including sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona.
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I documented the children
in detention facilities,
in detention facilities,
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deportation flights
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and a lot of different things.
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I witnessed the rise
of the Mexican drug war
of the Mexican drug war
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and the deepening levels
of social violence in Central America.
of social violence in Central America.
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I came to understand how interconnected
all these disparate elements were
all these disparate elements were
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and how interconnected we all are.
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As photographers,
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we never really know which
particular moment will stay with us
particular moment will stay with us
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or which particular person
will be with us.
will be with us.
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The people we photograph become
a part of our collective history.
a part of our collective history.
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Jerica Estrada was a young
eight-year-old girl
eight-year-old girl
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whose memory has stayed with me.
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Her father had gone to LA in order
to work to support his family.
to work to support his family.
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And like any dutiful father,
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he returned home
to Guatemala, bearing gifts.
to Guatemala, bearing gifts.
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That weekend, he had presented
his eldest son with a motorcycle --
his eldest son with a motorcycle --
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a true luxury.
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As the son was driving
the father back home
the father back home
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from a family party,
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a gang member rode up
and shot the dad through the back.
and shot the dad through the back.
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It was a case of mistaken identity,
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an all too common
occurrence in this country.
occurrence in this country.
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But the damage was done.
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The bullet passed
through the father and into the son.
through the father and into the son.
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This was not a random act of violence,
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but one instance of social violence
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in a region of the world
where this has become the norm.
where this has become the norm.
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Impunity thrives when all the state
and governmental institutions
and governmental institutions
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fail to protect the individual.
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Too often, the result forces people
to leave their homes and flee
to leave their homes and flee
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and take great risks in search of safety.
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Jerica's father died
en route to the hospital.
en route to the hospital.
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His body had saved his son's life.
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As we arrived to the public hospital,
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to the gates of the public hospital,
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I noticed a young girl
in a pink striped shirt, screaming.
in a pink striped shirt, screaming.
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Nobody comforted the little girl
as she clasped her tiny hands.
as she clasped her tiny hands.
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She was the man's youngest daughter,
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her name was Jerica Estrada.
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She cried and raged,
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and nobody could do anything,
for her father was gone.
for her father was gone.
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These days, when people ask me
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why young mothers
with four-month-old babies
with four-month-old babies
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will travel thousands of miles,
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knowing they will likely
be imprisoned in the United States,
be imprisoned in the United States,
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I remember Jerica,
and I think of her and of her pain
and I think of her and of her pain
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and of her father who saved
his son's life with his own body,
his son's life with his own body,
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and I understand the truly human need
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to migrate in search of a better life.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jon Lowenstein - Documentary photographer, filmmaker, visual artistTED Fellow Jon Lowenstein is a documentary photographer, filmmaker and visual artist whose work reveals what the powers that be are trying to hide.
Why you should listen
Jon Lowenstein specializes in long-term, in-depth documentary explorations that confront power, poverty and violence. Through the combination of photography, moving images, experiential writing and personal testimonials, he reveals with unsparing clarity the subjects of history denied a voice.
For the past two decades, Lowenstein has captured the experiences of undocumented Latin Americans living in the United States. "Shadow Lives USA" follows the migrant trail from Central America through Mexico and the United States in an effort to show the real stories of the men and women who make up the largest transnational migration in world history.
Jon Lowenstein | Speaker | TED.com