Montaña Roja - Red Mountain

I started traveling to the Mountain of Guerrero fifteen years ago, and without meaning to, I became obsessed. Its people, its traditions, its life stayed with me, and so have always looked for ways to return. Guerrero is one of the most violent and poor states in Mexico, but it is also one of the richest in terms of culture and tradition: That drama is part of daily life. Kids, women, and other residents live alongside the poppy flowers. They water them, care for them, and harvest them before they are sold to the best buyer. Many people do not know what they are for, or they do not want to know. They see the poppy plant as just another product of the fields. It gives them barely enough to live on, since they can no longer depend on their profits from corn. Despite all of that, hope remains. People ask their saints for a better rainy reason and for a better poppy crop. They ask the Virgin of Guadalupe for her blessing so that the army pests do not ruin the harvest. They ask for their children to be able to go to university with the poppy's help, to end the cycle of violence and poverty in which they have grown. The aim of this project is to document the fast changes to the communities of the Mountain of Guerrero and to understand its displacement, isolation and poverty, as well as the culture, traditions, economy and dynamics of power.