Mexamerica: the third country

Mexamerica: the third country
By Manon Bourbousson, Juliette
Chabrier, Lola Sudreau, Laure
Olvers and Laure Wallez-Culioli
October 15th 2015
O
n Thursday 1st October, our
secondary school program Les
Jeudis d’Aubanel welcomed
Patrick Bard. The conference was
about the border between the
USA and Mexico, what it implies
on the economic, political and
social sides. We must say that
because of the work several
classes have done on the subject
and because of the numerous
posters posted in the Aubanel
corridors, the amphitheatre was
full.
And of course, the English
European class was in the
amphitheatre.
Patrick Bard: The man
and the photographer
Patrick Bard* was born in 1958 in
Montreuil-sous-Bois. He is a
photojournalist, a thriller author
and a traveller-novelist. He has
especially worked on the
suburbs, the roads and the
borders. His long photographic
essay about the AmericanoMexican border (known as
Mexamerica) earned him ample
recognition. He is also an ardent
advocate of the photography
cause. He served in this context
many elective offices in the last
20 years.
Patrick Bard the novelist:
His 5 novels (especially his
detective novels) were inspired
by his photos. His first novel, The
Border, was awarded the Michel
Lebrun prize in France in 2002,
the Brigada 21 prize in Spain in
2005 and the Encres Noires prize
in 2006 in France. He currently
leads a personal work on the
water
problem
and
the
indigenous people in South
America. With his wife (MarieBerthe Ferrer whom he works
with), he has recently published
Partir, traité de routologie
(2011), a work in photos, texts
and travel books. Orphelins de
sang (2010), the latest novel by
Patrick Bard, was rewarded by
the Sang d’Encre des Lycéens
prize in 2010 and the Lion Noir
prize in 2011. Around twenty
monograph and photograph
books have been devoted to him
since 1985.
Patrick Bard the photographer:
His artwork has especially been
exhibited in the Pompidou
Centre, in the Grande Halle de la
Villette, and in Mexico, Spain,
and Britain or in the US… And it
has been acquired by many
museums and private collections.
Through his work, which is visible
around the world, he wishes to
foster exchanges. Since 2007, he
has been represented by
Signatures, a photographers'
company*. In his opinion, a
photo is above all ‘ a depiction of
the photographer’s view of the
world’. But when he shoots a
photo, he contents himself with
being a simple witness because it
is not up to him to interfere.
According to him, a photo is here
to contribute to the democratic
debate. Therefore, the first
question he asks himself before
taking a cliché is : "Is this photo
© Marie-Berthe Ferrer
going to be useful as a
contribution to the media
debate?"
Sometimes, the photo can take
part in the change of our society.
For example, Philips which has
factories in Mexico has stopped
the humiliating rules the women
were submitted to thanks to the
photos.
For him, a photo is stronger than
any newspaper articles and has
an undeniable power that articles
do not have as "a photography
Tijuana, Canyon Zapata, 1996 ©Patrick
Bard
puts the human in the centre
whereas
an
article
puts
information at the centre ".
The “El Norte” exhibition:
Between 1996 and 2000, during
the “Gatekeeper operation”,
Patrick Bard shot a series of 52
photographs in Mexico near the
border. This series of black and
white photos gave birth to an
exhibition called “El Norte”. In
this exhibition, the photographer
highlights the economic stakes
between an emerging country
and a powerful country, the
important narco-trafficking, the
illegal
immigration,
the
precarious life of the Mexican,
the globalization and the third
country which was born in 1994.
Mexamerica:
We cannot imagine what all a
border implies, which is what
defines and rules our world. And
we can consider that the border
between the United States of
America and Mexico is one of the
greatest example that illustrates
this idea, as it is the most crossed
border in the world.
Originally, the territory of the
border belonged to Mexico. In
1848, the Americans took it from
the Mexicans.
Nowadays, the border between
the USA and Mexico is
demarcated by a wall (4200 km
long and 7 metres high) built
during Bill Clinton’s mandate.
This wall was erected in order to
reduce the Mexican migration
flows coming into the USA, which
is all the more paradoxical
because it was the period when
the USA, Canada and Mexico
signed an agreement (ALENA) for
free trade between them.
Of course, although the USA and
Mexico share a common history,
there is still a huge gap between
them and especially a social one.
First of all, the Mexicans do not
live in the same way the
Americans do. A large part of the
Mexicans, who work in factories
near the border, live in slums and
in dire poverty. The workers’
wages are lower in Mexico than
in the USA: about 5, 20$ in the
USA against 2$ or 3$ a day in a
same factory in Mexico. The
factories in Mexico do not
respect the workers’ rights. And
the women are the first victims.
They are indeed victims of
discrimination: some of the most
well-known companies which
have factories in Mexico imposed
humiliating rules. For example,
every month women have to
prove that they are not pregnant:
if they are pregnant, they risk to
be dismissed.
The cities near and along the
border are the theatre of great
violence.
Actually,
narcotracfficking has invaded those
cities, creating an atmosphere of
fear and of great tensions. Still,
women are the most affected by
violence: a sort of a macabre
game (called “feminicide” by
associations) consists in hunting
women as they come back alone
from work, raping them and
reached: Mexico decided to get
rid of the narco-traffickers with
the help of the USA. It led to a
war of gangs that killed between
120,000 and 150, 000 people.
This is one of the most
murderous events in the early
21st century.
Although the border brought a
lot of violence and problems in
the two countries alike, it is also
a place of great exchanges.
Indeed, as it is also known as the
3rd country, it has its own culture
(books written in Spanglish, films
directed by an American director
and a Mexican director…), its
own language (Spanglish, a
contraction of English and
Spanish) and its own art.
Mexico and the USA are going to
respectively americanize and
mexicanize, with the third
country. Some places in the USA
are about 70% Spanish speaking.
The states in the South of the
USA celebrate El DÍa de los
muertos. On the contrary,
Mexico celebrate Halloween
which
is
a
sign
of
americanization.
Some questions
audience:
killing them. It is now wide
spread
El Norte. A demonstration of the missing
persons’ families in front of Juarez City
Hall. Hundreds of women, mainly
maquiladora workers, have been
murdered these six last years. 2000. ©
Patrick Bard
through South America. But this
violence is not only present in
Mexico, it has invaded the South
of the USA: the city of El Paso has
become one of the most violent
places in the USA.
In 2004, an event showed that a
climax in violence had been
of
the
•
« Who shoots the
photo: the man or the
professional? » (a question of Mr
Amberny asked by Mrs Bessard)
Patrick Bard: Both. Because,
there is no border between the
man and the professional. My job
has really become a part of
myself.
•
« What do people say
when you photograph them? »
P.B: It depends on the moments
[…] but generally, the populations
who are victims of persecutions
appreciate the presence of the
camera or the lens.

“What do you think
about the photo of the
three-year old Syrian boy
lying face down on a
Turkish beach?”
P.B: The photo is shocking but
useful to the democratic debate. I
think that the French media
failed in their duty of information
by
not
publishing
this
photography.

“Why are your photos in
black and white?”
P.B: All my photos are not in
black and white. But a black and
white photo enables us to take a
certain distance between the real
world and the photo.

“What do you think of
the new trend of the
selfie?”
P.B: I am not going to give you
my own opinion on this practice.
But, what is certain is that, when
we shoot a selfie, we put all the
places of the world on the same
plan: the background.
Juliette’s point of view:
I guess that I actually speak on
behalf of us all when I say that
Patrick Bard is a really interesting
man. He didn’t speak to us as if
we were just teenagers listening
to him, but as adults with an
opinion
to
consider.
We
exchanged with him and he gave
us his point of view about one
topic or another. It was not one
of those conferences during
which we almost fall asleep: Mr
Bard told us his story as a thrilling
novel. He told us about
Mexamerica in a different way
from our teachers did. He saw
Mexamerica, he took the
photographs we studied in class.
He explained us the life in the 3rd
Country, and this was really
intense. We couldn’t hide behind
our screen anymore: real history
was here, in his words, and we
couldn’t act as ignorant children
anymore. He considered us as
grown-ups, we had to show him
he was right. One thing that was
really nice with him was that he
didn’t speak about those things
that happened in Mexamerica in
a sinister tone. He said he had
been kidnapped and he had to
escape, with a smile, as if it was
sheer routine for him, which truly
impressed us. His job is a really
captivating way of life that made
us
dream
about
another
perspective. He explained his
vision of the photography with
passion. We could see how much
he loves what he does. I found
that his presentation was the
most inspiring Jeudis d’Aubanel I
have ever participated in.
To finish:
To conclude the conference at
Aubanel, he simply declared:
"Photography is here to show the
unspeakable and writing is here
to say the unshowable ".
Due to his success, Patrick Bard
may come back at Aubanel in
December
to
speak
about
Mexamerica again.
If you want to know more:
*http://www.signaturesphotographies.com/vitrine/fr
*http://www.patrickbard.com