BARRED:

One Migrant’s Odyssey After Deportation

BARRED is the photographic companion to my book Border Hacker, which follows the life of Axel Kirschner after he was deported from New York, the only home he had ever known, to his birth country of Guatemala.

For the better part of a decade, I followed Axel’s journey across Mexico as he struggled to return to the US. Along the way, I had full access to his daily life, often living with him for months at a time. I documented his dangerous treks through the jungle, his work as a hacker, and even his kidnapping by one of Mexico’s top migrant activists. I also include photographs Axel took himself on his cell phone (curated and edited by me), which illuminate the daily struggles of being a migrant and provide an interesting aesthetic juxtaposition to, and dialogue with, professional portrayals of migrant experience.

I have placed a black bar across Axel’s eyes for his own protection. We have tried to embrace this forced semi-anonymity, and to use the black bar as a symbol which draws attention to all the ways that being undocumented bars migrants from the world, as well as all of the other borders and boundaries that frame Axel’s body within the photograph. Axel is barred from a country, a life he desires, and even the means of self-representation. Every time the audience looks at a picture of him, the black bar forces them to acknowledge this burden; they cannot ignore it.

I am currently scheduling tour dates for this exhibition in conjunction with my book launch. If your institution is interested in hosting BARRED, please reach out here.

A short selection of images from the exhibition can be found below: