Project Detail: Under High Tension

Contest:

Reportage and Documentary 2019



Brand:

LuganoPhotoDays



Author:

Alexandra Mira Berger

 

Project Info

Under High Tension

Daily life of a family living illegally in the electromagnetic field of overhead power lines in Playa del Carmen / Mexico.

'Las Torres' is a squatter settlement under high voltage towers in Playa del Carmen / Mexico. It is an area that has been invaded by 700 families in the right-of-way of the overhead electric power lines and spreads over 10 km.

Flor and Romero, are originally from Chiapas, and have arrived 5 years ago to ‘Las Torres’ with their 6 sons.

The series shows moments of their lives under this ‘charged’ circumstances.
A life in a legal blackhole which makes it one of the most dangerous parts of the city, neither police nor ambulances dare to enter.
Due to the Mexican law, that forbids housing under the electromagnetic field of the high voltage cables, the government doesn’t provide basic requirements, like water, electricity and a sewerage system.

But necessity is the mother of invention.

Photos