I always like to know what goes on behind the scenes. That’s it photograph a baseball game or ballet performance. I love looking behind the curtains and seeing what people’s lives are really like. So when I was awarded a scholarship to spend three years documenting the lives of Catholic nuns MexicoI didn’t doubt it.
In the town where I grew up, some Catholic churches are over 400 years old. The first sisters here helped the Spanish spread Catholicism in the country. However many nuns remained alone inside the convents and were forbidden to socialize with the outside world. When I was little I thought they were legends.
A convent photographer
Gaining access to their world is not easy. When I knocked on the door of a convent, they told me to leave and then slammed the door in my face. But I was stubborn and persistent, and they finally let me in.
Some nuns take a vow of abstinence from marriage
To ask the nuns why they kept their vows, some answered that they felt the call; others did it to avoid marriage. And there were two that had They are part of a rock band and become nuns looking for spiritual meaning in their lives.
Every morning the day started like that, at 4:30 in the morning. Their songs are my alarm clock. Then I follow them while they do their prayers and their daily tasks, such as washing, cleaning, and cooking.
Immediately I realized that they are fun too. They laugh and dance, play cards and other amusements, listen to rock and roll… I know someone who is a soccer fan He watches sports on television and follows the teams he likes; He even prayed for the players and jumped for joy when they won.
My purpose in this series of photography is a reflection of the daily lives of people made invisible by imprisonment. I want everyone to see how alive they are and how human and feminine they are. Maybe one day their way of life will disappear. But not yet.
