THE BACKPACKERS/ LOS MOCHILEROS

2013 - 2019

The Backpackers or “Los Mochileros”, is a project I am working on since 2013 in the trans-boundary city of Nogales. It tells the stories of deported migrants in the border area of Mexico and the United States.

Of all the borders dividing the US with Mexico, the town has seen the largest number of undocumented migrants during the last decade. Additional to all the photographs, which I took at the Juan Bosco shelter in Nogales MX, I conducted interviews with the migrants, who were allowed to stay over night for a maximum of three consecutive days.

I chose the title ‘The Backpackers’, because the only thing migrants carry on their route across the border is a backpack.