Ingrid Leyva Vásquez
Non-Resident
Keywords: shade, heat, photography, shadow, light, violence
Biography
Ingrid Leyva Vásquez is a binational photographer whose recent work focuses on circular migration, demonstrated by photographs of people crossing from the United States to Mexico with bags of goods. She is a fourth-generation photographer and began learning photography from her grandfather as a child. Born in Ciudad Chihuahua, she grew up in Juárez. Since childhood, she and her family crossed back and forth from Juárez to El Paso weekly. She has contributed a series of photographs to the Ultraviole[n]t Exposures project, where she documents how residents of the Segundo Barrio protect themselves from the sun’s heat. She provides an in-depth perspective from the eyes of the photographer and her ability to explain the sun’s heat through black and white photographs.
“I enjoyed working on the project and am proud of the results. I had an instant crush on the shadows.”
Interview Summary
Ingrid Leyva Vásquez was born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, but grew up in Ciudad Juárez. She considers herself a borderland resident since she often travels back and forth between the United States and Mexico. She remembers traveling to El Paso on weekends to spend time with family or enjoy family celebrations. Her family had birthday celebrations at Furr’s and went shopping at the dollar store; she felt that her childhood was typical for Juárez.
However, she also addresses the violence created by the Calderon Administration and the “narco” war. Ingrid is the middle child of three women and was raised solely by her mother. She recognizes her mother’s anxiety because of the violence and her incessant need to know where her daughter was at each moment. She also remembers horrendous situations. One time, they assassinated a woman and left her body on the street corner of the house. The image of the body of the woman being picked up by forensics and the stain of blood that was left on the street still haunts Ingrid. Not only does she address the violence in Ciudad Juárez but also El Paso and recounts her personal experience during the August 3rd Walmart Massacre at Cielo Vista Mall. She felt the same sense of trepidation and sense of unease as she did when she witnessed the lifeless woman thrown on the corner of her street.
Ingrid explains that she utilizes art to process the situations around her. However, she has not been able to process the violence that she witnessed in Juárez and Walmart through her art yet, and she carries the weight of what she saw on her shoulders. She explains that she comes from a family of photographers who have shown her many aspects of photography.
Interview Summary
Ingrid Leyva Vásquez was born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, but grew up in Ciudad Juárez. She considers herself a borderland resident since she often travels back and forth between the United States and Mexico. She remembers traveling to El Paso on weekends to spend time with family or enjoy family celebrations. Her family had birthday celebrations at Furr’s and went shopping at the dollar store; she felt that her childhood was typical for Juárez.
However, she also addresses the violence created by the Calderon Administration and the “narco” war. Ingrid is the middle child of three women and was raised solely by her mother. She recognizes her mother’s anxiety because of the violence and her incessant need to know where her daughter was at each moment. She also remembers horrendous situations. One time, they assassinated a woman and left her body on the street corner of the house. The image of the body of the woman being picked up by forensics and the stain of blood that was left on the street still haunts Ingrid. Not only does she address the violence in Ciudad Juárez but also El Paso and recounts her personal experience during the August 3rd Walmart Massacre at Cielo Vista Mall. She felt the same sense of trepidation and sense of unease as she did when she witnessed the lifeless woman thrown on the corner of her street.
Ingrid explains that she utilizes art to process the situations around her. However, she has not been able to process the violence that she witnessed in Juárez and Walmart through her art yet, and she carries the weight of what she saw on her shoulders. She explains that she comes from a family of photographers who have shown her many aspects of photography.