Cholombianos

They wear white Converse sneakers and brilliantly-hued Hawaiian shirts printed with religious images (mainly the Virgin of Guadalupe and San Judas Tadeo); their accessories, handkerchiefs, caps, and scapulars hanging around their necks to distinguish where they belong and who they are, which is their message to the world. Amanda Watkins' collection of portraits from the community of Cholombians in Monterrey is more than the evidence of the growing violence that has stricken the country in recent years and the many ways youth is responding to it. It's about cultural migration on the border cities: how it can be so rich and colourful in contrast with the poverty, marginalisation, and disenchantment of an urban concrete environment. With brief descriptions that take us to a hot night in downtown Monterrey with cumbia music softly playing on a far away radio station, these "photo albums" demand to be seen and recognised, as Cholombians themselves, too.