Josh Meltzer films an interview with a Listen to My Pictures participant.
In the middle of answering a slew of nervous questions about what I could expect from the year of unknowns that lay ahead of me, my host for the evening, an outgoing Fulbrighter whose apartment I would soon be renting, stopped me and said something I would never forget throughout my time in Mexico: “Remember that as much as your project is important and is the reason you got here, so too is your ability to meet as many people as you can, to socialize, to share ideas, and to become part of the many facets of this community.”
As a newspaper photographer with 15 years of experience, I was anxious and eager to begin documenting the stories of indigenous migrants both in the city and out in the countryside. At first I worked the streets, shooting here and there, but it felt aimless. I decided to try and take the words of advice I had received and put them into practice, not by stopping my work, but by integrating myself into Mexican culture and society as much as I could.
My wife and I began working as volunteers for an NGO of street educators who were well connected and trusted within the street vendor community of Guadalajara, made up of many from indigenous regions who had come to the city to find work. As I started participating more, the subjects for my project came out of the woodwork and allowed me into their lives. Connections made through that NGO facilitated trips to rural indigenous regions where my camera and I were welcome guests.
I discovered from acting on those words of advice that the experience of being a Fulbrighter was just as much about my integration and participation in Mexican society as it was about pursuing my proposed project. Yet it was by seeking integration and participation that so many doors were opened for my photographic project. It was the project that got me there, but it was my participation in and exploration of Mexican society and Mexican people that allowed my project to flourish.
One part of my project that spoke to both aspects of this experience was teaching a photojournalism course to young students. That course, supported by Listen to My Pictures, a global initiative to put cameras in the hands of young storytellers, met each week for 8 months and culminated in a show of 50 images shot by 18 amazing young photographers who documented their own lives, neighborhoods and communities with their cameras. This was, without a doubt, the most rewarding part of my Fulbright experience because it was a true combination of my love for photography, teaching and cultural exploration.
To the U.S.-Mexico Fulbright Program