Concurso,Real del Mar, Tijuana

Oh, how I love this photo (above) of one of my local amazonas! This is Ale, age 13, and her horse Camerun. They placed first in their division.

 

Vigil in Memory of Anastasio Hernández Rojas

Presidential Campaign Stop: Amlo in Tijuana

Street Art: Playas de Tijuana Boardwalk

Tear: Adela Bello Navarro in The Toronto Star

A new story by my friend and colleague Myles Estey is in today’s edition of the Toronto Star newspaper.

“The authorities of Baja California know who the drug dealers in the state are, but they have not detained them.”

So reads the opening line of a feature story in Tijuana’s weekly newspaper, Zeta, which goes on to name known drug dealers and provide photos and details of their whereabouts.

In other parts of Mexico, this would be a death sentence for the writer. Mexican authorities say 75 journalists have been killed because of their work since the National Action Party (PAN) took power in 2000. Zeta saysthis number as low. Its investigation found that 69 journalists had been killed in the six years since Felipe Calderón started a military offensive against the drug cartels, and 101 since 2000. Another 12 are missing. And, in 2011 alone, it found 11 media offices across Mexico had been shot at or attacked with grenades.

You can read the full article here: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1164393–mexican-journalists-risk-death-to-do-their-jobs#article

New work: Short greyhound documentary for Univision

Well, April turns out to be National Greyhound Adoption Month! What better way to celebrate it than producing another Retirement Day multimedia piece? This short doc was shot by myself and Eros Hoagland, and then edited by me and Diana Oliva Cave from Univision News. It’s also posted over at the Univision News Tumblr. Here’s the text they ran with the piece:

“Tijuana’s Caliente racetrack is home to nearly seven hundred galgos, or greyhounds, who are part of the shrinking American greyhound racing circuit. Most Caliente dogs race a few times per week, though races are held almost daily. The track is informally known in the dog racing world as a “last stop” track, where older and slower dogs are sent for their final hurrahs. But what happens to Tijuana’s racing dogs after the track, when they reach the mandatory retirement age of five or get injured?

Many former race dogs, thanks to an American organization called Fast Friends, go on to new careers as pampered couch potatoes. Tom and Joyce McRorie, of La Habra, California, founded the nonprofit over 20 years ago. With the help of a large and dedicated volunteer base, their organization is responsible for transporting, rehabilitating, and re-homing more than 3,100 retired greyhounds from Tijuana. Over the years, the McRories have worked hard to grow a trusting relationship with Caliente, and today, they even rent two dog pens at the track, where “broken” (broken leg, a common injury) and retired greyhounds stay until one of the Fast Friends cross-border dog pick-up trips. Their goal? To try to save every single retiree, broken or not.

April is National Greyhound Adoption month, and we recently tagged along as the McRorie’s traveled to Tijuana and back for one of their largest “Retirement Days” yet.”

 

Tear: Newsweek

Adela Navarro Bello for Newsweek

Last month, I had the honor of photographing Adela Navarro Bello, editor of Tijuana’s investigative weekly Zeta. This year, Bello is included in the Daily Beast/ Newsweek’s list of “150 Women who Shake the World.” You can read all about her here, here, or here.

I was starstruck while shooting. Wanna know why? Just watch this short video clip, produced by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Also, she had a black leather bull whip on one of her shelves– a present, Bello told me, from her reporters.

Outtakes: ¡MÁS Galgos Guapos! (MORE Handsome Hounds!)

My latest piece for Reuters, Los Galgos Guapos,  is up over on the Reuters’ Pictures Photographers Blog. There were a bunch of images that didn’t fit into the blog, or make it onto the wire. Here are a few of my very favorites from the story:

Hearts Apart Shoot: The Rivera Family

U.S. Marine Joseph Rivera kisses his wife Alissa at Camp Pendleton in California.

My friend & fellow photog Krista Kennell is the West Coast Coordinator for HeartsApart.org, recruited me to become a volunteer photographer with the nonprofit. They match professional photographers with military families about to deploy for portrait sessions.

From their website:

HeartsApart.org was created to keep families connected while our military men and women are serving abroad. Through the efforts of our community’s finest photographers, HeartsApart.org provides our soon to be deployed servicemen and women with pictures of their spouses and children. The photographs are printed on waterproof and durable bi-folded cards, which fit securely in their uniform pocket. HeartsApart.org believes that our military personnel deserve and need the memory of their families to carry them through the difficult times that lie ahead.