It is important as artists to continue addressing
the current state of our environment, and the
consequences that the actions of our civilization
have upon its condition. In order to help raise
awareness and offer diverse views into how this
affects us, images provide powerful messages,
and photography contributes ideally to
communicate them. It is in this sense that the
writings of author Eduardo Galeano inspire my
proposal: I attempt to interpret and re-transmit
the expressive descriptions of the Latin
American landscape that the Uruguayan writer
makes in his renowned book from 1971 “The
Open Veins of Latin America”, through a photo-
based project.
My goal is to develop a body of work in which I
freely combine and contrast the author’s literary
images with the photographs I make. In the
context of this proposed project, I am planning
to photograph and record areas described by
Galeano in Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, and Perú,
where the accumulated effects of extracting
some of the most sought after natural
resources, such as silver, copper, tin, salt-peter,
and guano over centuries can be seen.
Motivated by his compelling historical analysis
(from the European -and later US- colonization
of America, to its successive economic and
political dominance of the actual Latin American
region), I intend to develop a final piece of work
that, just as emotionally, brings forth a current
and timely portrayal of the depleting effects
that, regardless of political boundaries and
powers, our greed and neglect have had upon
this region and by extension, the world as a
whole.
In 2012-2013, I photographed different past
and present extraction sites in Latin America,
and the image presented here is the result of
that journey.
Dante Busquets, Mexico City, 1969
Attended the San Francisco Art Institute. Has shown individually in Mexico and in 25+ group shows nationally and overseas. 2006 won the Acquisition Prize of the Mexican Photography Biennale for his SATELUCO project. Received the grant Descubrimientos PHE México from PhotoEspa09, and the Leica Grant from FotoFest in Houston TX, USA, 2008. 2012 Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte, Mexican National Fund for Culture and Arts, 2012-2104.
Awards - Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte, Mexican National Fund for Culture and Arts, 2012-2104
- Descubrimientos PHE México from PhotoEspaña09
- Leica Grant from FotoFest in Houston TX, USA, 2008
- Acquisition Prize of the Mexican Photography Biennale 2006
