US

Jorge Chavarría

More and more in Latin American societies, one can perceive the desire to put all of life’s hopes in someone else, someone who can give a better future, a provider of well-being, a leader. One confides in this other person what he sees as an instantaneous solution, a passport to a better life, moving away from poverty, from violence.

The action of depositing confidence in someone else has always existed, in societies’ distinct social groups, where what changes is the life partner, father, mother, boss. The idea of the future depends on someone else. Without taking into account that the life of the subject cannot be lived as a role in the lives of others, or completely dependent on them. Contemporary Guatemala, especially, immersed in a whirlpool of violence and struggle for power since the XIX century, has created the figure of the savior leader of the nation, placing an all-powerful halo on the President of the Republic. The great prize of the electoral battles remains symbolized in the presi­dential sash. A ribbon with the colors of the flag, with the shield, that is placed over the heart of the elected. The days pass and everything remains the same as before, the leader falls into disgrace for his inefficiency and arrogance that the same country gave to him.

“We” is a call to attention to Latin America, to the Guatemalan, who tends to forget how to author his own future from whichever position we find him in. This proposal hopes to make the observer see that their life belongs to them, and that only they can govern their present for a better tomorrow, based on making clear decisions. The same subject is his own leader, no other.

This proposal hopes to be a reflection on whichever Latin American society, especially Guatemala, always divided and diverse. To make one see that from whichever position they find themselves in, their actions and decisions have to have a longer period, an impact and an influence in the future of everyone, as a nation and not as an all-powerful leader savior. The same individual is the one responsible for his daily conditions, for his future that, in some way, belongs to all of us.

Jorge is a photographer, and in 2013 he opened the exposition titled “Nosotros” that includes the photographs on the cover.