DAVID ROCHKIND PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography: heavy hand, sunken spirit : mexico at war

In the three and a half year since Mexican President Felipe Calderon escalated the battle against the country’s drug cartels, more than 20,000 people have been killed and kidnappings have skyrocketed. The cartels in Mexico are ruthless, meting out an awesome brutality where heads are rolled into crowded discos and dismembered bodies are abandoned on busy streets.

Heavy Hand, Sunken Spirit is a project about the social costs and consequences of Mexico’s violent drug war. It frames the violence as a symptom, as opposed to the problem, and one of a variety of symptoms that will haunt the country for generations. This country is in the midst of a “conflict” in every sense of the word, and when documenting this conflict it is important not to reduce what is happening to a series of nearly anonymous images of carnage that could be happening anywhere. I am not creating a story about violence that happens to be set in Mexico, but rather a story about Mexico’s present situation, offering a snapshot of a time that will be referred to for decades as people look for answers to make sense of Mexican society. I want each image to convey a sense of Mexico, her color, and her culture.

The wounds of this war bleed into every corner of the country, staining the very fabric of Mexican life with violence, death and fear. The psychology of the country is also changing, as people become accustomed to horror and distrust, weakening an already fragile democracy. I am most fascinated by the space between what Mexico has always been and what this carnage is creating. The heat of the conflict is melting two worlds together, making a singular Mexico defined as much by violence and tension as by history and culture.

Police in Nogales, Sonora perform a security sweep in the poor neighborhoods of the city looking for drug dealers and drug users. Local authorities say that an increase in border security has caused more drugs to stay in Mexico, resulting in higher rates of drug use and crime.
   
A migrant stands at a customs station just inside the Mexican border in Nogales, Sonora after being deported by US authorities. Migrants face a new series of dangers as drug cartels and thugs encroach on the human smuggling business. Migrants, now more than ever, are vulnerable to kidnappings, robberies and extortion by the Mexican authorities.
   
President Felipe Calderon has dispatched 45,000 troops and an additional 5,000 federal police officers to help stem the drug violence, which is believed to be responsible for over 20,000 killings since Calderon was sworn in. In Ciudad Juarez, one of the most dangerous cities, an influx of thousands of troops has not stemmed the violence. Killings and executions continue to take place on a daily basis.
     
  
A young girl walks by a caravan of vehicles as police look for drug users and drug dealers. Mexicans of all ages are surrounded by violence, as murders become commonplace and soldiers and police are often seen patrolling the cities. It is believed that this conflict will have a lasting effect on the country's children.
   
A wall runs along the border separating Nogales, Sonora(right) and Nogales, Arizona. There is a reported presence of Mexican drug cartels in the United States. The Justice Dept has said that Mexican cartels represent the largest organized crime threat to the US, and that they operate in over 200 cities.
   
A young boy sits on a couch with a neighbor in the hills of Nogales, Sonora. He and his family have been sleeping outside since their tin and cardboard shack burned to the ground two weeks before. Even before the accident the family had no water or electricity and their only source of income was selling scavenged trash. Nearly half of Mexicans live in poverty. Many people along the border are turning to the cartels to help earn money.
     
  
Without strong social services in impoverished areas, like this neighborhood in Nogales, Sonora, many youth are drawn to the potential earning that working for a drug gang offers.
   
Police patrol the streets of Mexico City, one of the most populated, congested cities in the world. While there are a host of urban social problems common to a city this large, police are increasingly forced to deal with murders, kidnappings and drug related crimes.
   
Two customers manually penetrate a stripper inside a brothel in Ciudad Juarez. In October 2009 masked gunmen with automatic weapons stormed a similar club in Ciudad Juarez killing 6, including an American soldier.
     
  
Police frisk a man during a security sweep in Ciudad Juarez. In March of 2009 President Calderon ordered the army to take over security operations in Ciudad Juarez. There is widespread corruption in the police force and many of the officers have ties to drug dealers.
   
A man was handcuffed and blindfolded before being executed in Mexico City. Police believe this execution was drug related. Execution victims and mutilated bodies are displayed in public spaces as a warning to the police, journalists and anyone else who dares to challenge the power of the drug cartels.
   
Members of a Nortena band sit in their tour bus after performing in Mexico City. Many Nortena groups sing corridos, or ballads, that tell a story. Some of these are narcocorridos, ballads that tell the stories of famous drug dealers. There has been a wave of killings of musicians that sing narcocorridos
     
  
A drug addict needs helping smoking from a crack pipe, as his nervous system is so damaged he shakes too much to hold his own pipe. Drug addiction is on the rise throughout Mexico as more and more drugs stay in the country and small time dealers are paid with product instead of cash. Along the border there has been an increase in heroin and meth addiction, and further south crack addiction has been rising.
   
A man arrested for drug use stands in his jail cell in Nogales, Sonora.
  
A prostitute undresses for a client in a cheap motel in downtown Nogales. The cartels in Mexico are not only involved in drugs, but also prostitution and human smuggling.
     
  
A girl stands on a street in downtown Nogales, Sonora. Much of the population in Mexico believes that the path to their dreams lies to the north; the Pew Research Center published a report in September 2009, showing that one-third of all Mexicans would like to move to the US. Be it within their own country or abroad, many Mexicans are hoping for a better, safer life.
   
Followers of La Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, attend a mass that takes place on the first day of every month in Mexico City. It is believed that drug dealers and criminals believe in Santa Muerte, and that she looks after the those that the Catholic Church rejects. Saint Death is one part of a broad Narco Culture that is emerging in Mexico
   
Central American migrants ride atop a freight train carrying cement through Chiapas and in to Oaxaca as they head north in an attempt to enter the US. Traveling by train has become more dangerous as kidnappings and robberies have risen in recent years with increased drug cartel activity
     
  
Men arrested by the police for drug use are prepared for processing at a small jail in Nogales, Sonora
   
President Felipe Calderon has said that the country is fighting for “the future of democracy” and, one can infer, the future of Mexico. This fight is resetting the contours of Mexican society and everyone in the country feels the pressure and tension that is a result of this conflict.