2008 Portfolio Prize Runner Up: Hector Mata
Untitled 14, a metal stick at the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and an object left in the desert by an immigrant crossing the border, 2007
Los Angeles-based photojournalist Hector Mata took an artistic approach to a subject close to his heart in the photo-based project he calls Limbo. Mata conceived of Limbo as an exhibition in which the physical boundary line between the U.S. and Mexico is a touchstone. For Mata, the border is a metaphor for the unique intermediate state of identity inhabited by immigrants. As an immigrant from Peru, he understands the complex issue firsthand, “I have always lived in a sort of limbo, myself. Two parallel worlds exist: one defined by the country in which I live, the other residing in my dreams and heart,” he writes.
Mata captured images of the borderline on a drive along the length of the border from San Ysidro, California, to Boca Chica, Texas, in 2007. Alongside near-abstract black-and-white photographs, he presents diptychs that pair lyrical black-and-white scenes near the border with color images of personal objects abandoned by would-be immigrants as they crossed the border. These forlorn objects—shoes, snapshots, and handwritten letters—serve as haunting reminders that immigration is not merely a political hot button, but an often-perilous and demoralizing journey made by real people. Limbo will be exhibited at the Los Angeles Center for Digital art in May 2009.
All photographs from the series Limbo. Courtesy the artist.
Hector Mata moved to the U.S. from Peru over a decade ago, after living in Russia for four years. He was a staff photographer for Agence France-Presse from 1991-1997. Mata is now an independent photographer.
