Is this tomorrow

Starting from the role that photography played in the Latin American Cold War - in surveillance and persecution operations, in the logic of state terrorism, and the use of photography by civil society in its defense - Fotofria proposed the creation of photographic works in the broadest sense of the term that explore conflicts and their legacies in the hemisphere. 


As in other axes of the global south between 1945 and 1989, the antagonism between the two superpowers was combined with the volatile local politics, to make the region a turbulent and violent area. Characterized by state terrorism, dirty wars, genocides, as well as innovative tactics of resistance implemented by civil society and networks of international solidarity, the Latin American Cold War still exerts a powerful force today. A clear example of its validity are the trial for genocide of former Guatemalan General Efraín Ríos-Montt in 2013, or the relaxation of relations between Cuba and the United States as of 2014. Although in some countries the phenomenon has been visible, in others it was overshadowed or denied. The objective of this project is to investigate other forms, some more known, direct than others, about the effects, legacies and residues of these conflicts, ideologies and events that have the Cold War as axis or structure. 


From the idea of the project generator Andrea Noble that this work was developed from the co-production of knowledge and collaboration, we wanted to approach this topic from a collective perspective. Traveling together, sometimes working separately, and always in dialogue, we developed a perspective that we felt reflected the idea of the project as well as our personal experiences. This included not only the personal way of having experienced these legacies or conflicts directly, but how we imagined those of others from a Latin American imaginary of the Cold War. One of the fundamental elements of this research is and has been the archive. Therefore, in these pages there are unmodified archives that we have been compiling throughout our production: Family archives, stories and chronicles of interviewed people, classified documents of the government and the Mexican police, declassifi ed documents of the CIA, the newspaper Madera, fliers of the time, newspaper clippings, the study manuals of the School of the Americas.


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Zahara Gómez, Juan Orrantia, Mauricio Palos

instagram @isthistomorrowproject

Editorial Design and set-up Zahara, Juan and Mauricio

Adjustment of design and printing Casa del Ahuizote / Adrián Tapia

Production Casa del Ahuizote


1ed. to 100 copies / Mexico City
With the support of Durham University and Arts and Humanities Research Council

Using Format