Alejandro Cartagena – Car Poolers

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Alejandro Cartagena‘s projects employ landscape and portraiture as a means to examine social, urban and environmental issues. His work also engages with a larger history of photography by reinterpreting or rethinking the ways in which poignant issues have been addressed or represented in the past.

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These images are a rare view into how Car Pooling is practiced by workers in Mexico in order to transport themselves to work everyday. Even though the workers are not conscious of the ecological impact they may have by traveling this way, as they are doing it to save time and money, they are a silent contributor to the preservation of our city and planet. These images are also a keener observation to overgrowth issues in Mexico where suburbs are being built is far away lands from the urban centers causing greater comutes and consumption of gas. Eventually I hope the work can reflect on many things such as the workers state of mind while traveling and their working condition, the need and lack of proper transportation in Mexican cities, suburban sprawl, and these workers invisibility in a society struggling with a social crisis.

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More images and other projects on Alejandro Cartagena’s website.
Alejandro Cartagena (b. 1977) was born in Dominican Republic and lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and in several public and private collections in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, and the United States. He is the recipient of several major national grants, numerous honorable mentions and acquisition prizes in Mexico and abroad. He has been featured once on Oitzarisme with Suenos.