Dulce Pinzón is a Mexican-born, Brooklyn-based photographer. In The Real Story of the Superheroes she explores the cultural identity of Mexican immigrants working in the US and the value that Americans place on the labour they provide (which their economy has come to rely upon). Set against the now ingrained but seldom-examined idea of American “heroism” post-9/11, Pinzón take the lens of her own immigrant history and experiences in Mexico to ask a simple question: “what really is a superhero?”
(Bernabe Mendez is a window cleaner in New York City and sends home $500/month to his family in Mexico)
To raise the point, Pinzón creates a ludicrous but photographically engaging contradiction. Her subjects, all Mexican immigrants working low-wage jobs to send money home to their families, are pictures at work in traditional superhero costumes. Spider Man does the windows. Cat Woman changes diapers…
Often over-looked and maligned by the very people they are serving, these workers have silently become a fixture of the US economy even as Republican presidential candidates proposed wide-sweeping and totally illogical immigration reform to appeal to conservatives.
The pictures enlighten through their sense of entertainment; though we’ve trained to at-first relate to the legend of the superhero, the juxtaposition of what the photos are calling out comes to the top of mind very quickly.
(Minerva Valencia is a nanny and sends home $400/week).
(Paulino Cordozo loads trucks for a greengrocer and sends home $300/week).
(Noe Reyes works as a delivery boy and sends home $400/week).
Via Swiss Miss
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