Ada Trillo

Galerías y otras organizaciones que le representan

Agora Gallery

Organizaciones con obra

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Descripción del Artista

Bio Ada Trillo is a fine art photographer based in Philadelphia, PA, and Juarez, Mexico. Trillo holds degrees from the Istituto Marangoni in Milan and Drexel University in Philadelphia. Trillo’s work is concerned with human rights issues facing Latin America. Trillo has documented forced prostitution in Juarez, Mexico, La Bestia, the migrant caravans of 2018 and 2020, and the struggles of asylum seekers directly affected by Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy, in her hometown of Juarez, Mexico. Trillo has exhibited internationally at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, The Photo Meetings in Luxembourg, The Passion for Freedom Art Festival in London, Festival Internazionale di Fotografia in Cortona Italy and at the Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery at the John Jay College in New, York. In 2017, Trillo received a Leeway Foundation’s Art and Change Grant. Her work has been featured in The British Journal of Photography, The Guardian and Smithsonian Magazine. Trillo was recently awarded a CFEVA Fellowship by The Center For Emerging Visual Artists and was named the Visual Artist-in-Residence for Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Trillo was awarded First Place in Editorial Photos with the Tokyo International Foto Awards, The ME&Eve grant with the Center of photographic arts in Santa Fe. She recently was awarded first price of Focus Photo LA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was born in El Paso, Texas but I was raised in Juarez, Mexico. As a teenager, I traveled back and forth between the two cities so I could attend school in the states. Witnessing life on the border as a young adult had a strong influence on my worldview and art practice. For the past four years I’ve been documenting the journeys refugees from Central America take to reach the Mexico/U.S. border. I’ve photographed aboard the infamous La Bestia, a dangerous journey by freight train that migrants from Mexico and Central America ride every year to reach the border. Gangs follow the train with the sole purpose of kidnapping, robbing and raping the defenseless migrants on board. It’s estimated that eighty percent of passengers are subjected to violence while hundreds have died. While the media oftens covers what is happening at the border, they all too often overlook the individual trials, struggles, and humanity of those seeking to escape violence in pursuit of a better life. Spending countless days and nights living alongside those I photograph, I hope to present an honest, unadulterated view of migrant life. It’s critical to unveil individual journeys and explore the reasons why people were forced to leave their home. In 2018, I flew to Chiapas to join La Caravana as it took its first steps into Mexican territory. The members of the caravan sought safety in numbers as they traveled over 1,800 miles to reach Tijuana. In order to cover such a distance, migrants traveled light, relying on donations and shelters for the food, water, clothing and medicine they desperately needed. In November 2018, approximately 7,000 migrants reached the end of their journey as they arrived in Tijuana. Most were housed at the Benito Juarez shelter, a converted outdoor sports arena which was later closed for unsanitary conditions. Migrants were met by angry locals who attacked them and aid groups such as the Red Cross. From 2017 to 2019, I returned to my hometown of Ciudad Juárez to document the struggles of asylum seekers directly affected by Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. A glimpse into the besieged hopes, harsh uncertainties, and blunt realities – but also the enduring dignity – of mainly Central American asylum-seekers forced into a cruel and dangerous waiting game by the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. I documented the daily life of those who sought refuge at Casa del Migrant, a Catholic-run migrant shelter in Juárez. In January of 2020, I met up with a massive migrant caravan from Honduras fleeing violence and poor economic conditions. We traveled for 8 days from San Pedro Sula through Guatemala and into Mexico. People slept outside and went days without food. Finally the caravan crossed the Suchiate River into Mexico but was met by the recently established Guardia Nacional composed of former Federal, Military and Naval Police. Mexican President, Andrés Manual López Obrador has historically called for safe passage for migrants, but when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs, Mexico reversed its policy and deployed soldiers to keep Central American migrants from entering Mexico. Trump has effectively barred asylum seekers from entering the U.S. by threatening to impose tariffs and cut foreign aid to Central American countries. The human cost of Trump’s political agenda is denying people their fundamental human rights. For many asylum seekers, deportation will result in living a life of extortion, impoverishment and even death. The full effect of Trump's xenophobic policies toward immigrants and asylum seekers will no doubt be felt for generations to come.