amna: There have been more than
two million apprehensions at the
u.s./mexico border in the last
year, a record high.
And since 2018, photographer
Pablo Allison has documented the
human stories behind these
statistics.
Laura barrón-lópez is back with
this conversation as part of our
arts and culture series, canvas.
Laura: From the crowded tops of
freight trains in Mexico to
quiet moments of rest.
Mexican-british photojournalist
Pablo Alison has documented the
journeys of migrants from
Central America to the U.S.
Southern border for the last
five years.
His latest project, the detainee
handbook, explores what it's
like for migrants detained by
U.S. Immigration and customs
enforcement from inside the
detention center where he found
himself in 2019.
How did you start photographing
migrants making their way to the
U.S.?
Pablo: I was driven to wanting
to investigate the landscape of
Mexico, traveling on trains
through the southern border of
Mexico up to New York.
That was the intended journey.
I could not avoid but to
photograph the situation that I
was surrounded by.
That one journey ended up in
about four years of on and off
documentation of migrant
caravans, individual journeys
following small groups of people
, migrating to the united
States.
Laura: What are some of the
forces that drive people to flee
and make this difficult journey?
Pablo: The first journey I did,
I was in El Salvador and I heard
about the story of a kid that
was being recruited by the gang.
And he didn't want to be a part
of the ms13 gang.
Therefore he escaped his
neighborhood.
That was a vivid and direct
account of what I have been
reading in news and books,
specifically while I was working
with amnesty international,
which is where I got to know
more about the situation in
Central America.
My task was to find stories of
human rights abuses.
And atrocities like the one of
this kid.
I've heard hundreds of stories
of people that I've met along
the route.
The pattern is violence over
poverty, although they go hand
in hand.
Laura: What are some of the
themes about humanity that you
explore in your work?
Pablo: I've found elements of
love through meeting people that
have a lot of love for
themselves and the lives they
live.
Migrants is a concept that's
used, like many other concepts,
as categories to dehumanize.
And so for me, I try not to use
the migrant as a concept, rather
use names.
Carlos, Pepe, Javier, Maria,
Carmen, who are people that I've
met along the way and it's
people that I've befriended.
Those are key elements in the
work that I do.
Laura: There's this photograph
that struck me that I think gets
at what you're talking about
with love.
It was in 2019 that you took it,
and it shows this young Honduran
couple and it really evokes
hope.
Do you remember what that
couple's aspirations were, what
they and others with them were
hoping to achieve as they travel
to another country?
Pablo: It was early in the
morning and the sun was rising.
No one was awake.
I took a picture and she spotted
me, and she looked at me.
When they woke up, I remember
telling them that they were a
beautiful couple and that they
were very lucky to be together,
traveling and and protecting one
another.
I don't remember asking them,
but I just assumed that their
aspiration was to seek for a
better life like everyone is
trying to do, from places where
conflict and poverty exist.
Laura: As you started this
journey of photographing people
who make this trek for a better
life, you also said that you
never considered visiting a U.S.
Immigration detention center as
part of your photography work.
But in 2019, you yourself were
detained for several weeks after
your U.S. Visa expired.
What was that experience like?
Pablo: When I was going through
immigration on the border
between Mexico and the united
States, I went through it and no
questions asked, no stamp on my
passport, because I had gone in
with my previous entry and not
with a new one which I thought
had been the case.
It was an administrative error.
I didn't know very well, they
didn't explain and then I ended
up being there for almost a
month.
It is a detention center, yes,
but it smells, looks and tastes
like a prison.
Luckily, sadly, but luckily I
was able to document this.
Facing the terrible situation of
being inside a detention center
in the United States allowed me
at least to be able to focus on
that side of the story, which I
never in my life would have
thought I would I would have
ended up doing.
Laura: And, that side of the
story is the new book, "The
detainee handbook."
It contains sketches, diary
entries and much more from your
time there.
So what was it like to document
that experience without your
camera?
Pablo: It allowed me to stay
calm for the time that I was
there, which was almost a month.
I focused on portraits of
detainees.
And I also asked many people in
there to write their stories and
ideas related to incarceration,
migration, family, freedom,
etc.
So what you have in the book is
a participation or collaboration
between people and my sketches
of people.
Laura: Pablo, thank you for your
time.