Hecho en barrio

Hecho en barrio – Jean-Félix Fayolle studied international trade and foreign languages and spent a year as an exchange student in San Luis Potosí in 2006-2007 to complete his degree. Somewhat by chance, he settled in the working-class neighborhood of Pavón, on the outskirts of the Potosina capital, preferring this atmosphere to the sanitized one of the posh neighborhoods behind their high walls and barbed wire.

He began to meet gangs, to befriend them and to photograph them, then alternated stays in France and Mexico to continue his work. Over time, he witnessed the explosion of violence and insecurity linked to drug trafficking, as well as the ravages of drugs, particularly crystal meth, on these fragile lives.

This subject of this forgotten youth is therefore the reason why he decided to trade his economist hat for that of a photo reporter. “But how to show these images, what images and why? What do I want to tell? Positive things, negative things, both? Avoid clichés and above all respect the people photographed, and this entire country.” Because at the beginning, like anyone else, he flashe on stereotypes: drugs, tattoos, weapons … But he detaches himself from it as time goes by, these clichés are finally not the most objective representation of this universe. “What motivates me is to be able to continue to bear witness to this reality, which is becoming more and more complex, while respecting the dignity and the words of the people he meets.

With a regular follow-up for nearly 15 years, Jean-Félix Fayolle shares part of this experience through his book Hecho en barrio. It compiles different slices of life and themes, representative of the daily life of a whole generation, of a youth of San Luis Potosi against the backdrop of religious celebrations such as those of the Virgin, San Judas Tadeo or Santa Muerte, and funerals too, with the escalation of violence linked to the war against narcotraffic. “I hope that this work will allow for a better understanding of the daily life of young people in Mexico, born in a working-class neighborhood, left on the bangs of society due to their physical appearance and social background in a context plagued by hyperviolence.”