“‘Chronicles of a Trip’ is a catharsis.”
In this personal project composed of three parts that coincide with three stages of my life, I use digital, film, disposable cameras and my phone to capture order and chaos while experiencing motherhood and gender violence.
The first part is “Postscript,” about my pregnancy: Everything that comes with being a Latin American immigrant in Berlin, childbirth, motherhood and its complex emotions, the distance with one's own country and the lack of support, the rediscovery as a woman and mother and, at the same time, gender violence.
After a few months of living an untenable situation, “Chronicles of a Trip“ records the second part of the work entitled “Kaputt” (“broken“, in German), which comprises the escape to a women's shelter (Frauenhaus) and the anonymous stay there.
An overwhelming experience with a five-month-old baby. The uncertainty of not knowing how to go on or how to start. Exhausting bureaucratic and legal processes. Living in the flesh the experience of a system that still endorses violence and protects the perpetrators. The challenge of living with other women and children who are also victims of violence, solidarity without limits and at some point, a certain rivalry or rather, the survival of the fittest. As a spice, the obstacles of a language not yet mastered.
It was three months of living together with 19 women and children, surrounded by chaos and uncertainty. Without understanding exactly what was going on, I systematically recorded the process with the equipment that was available.
After that experience, I returned home (without him). To the same house, full of memories. Here begins the third part of the project called “Zu Hause” (“at home”) and this is where the question arises: What is my home? What is the home I want to build?
In this personal project composed of three parts that coincide with three stages of my life, I use digital, film, disposable cameras and my phone to capture order and chaos while experiencing motherhood and gender violence.
The first part is “Postscript,” about my pregnancy: Everything that comes with being a Latin American immigrant in Berlin, childbirth, motherhood and its complex emotions, the distance with one's own country and the lack of support, the rediscovery as a woman and mother and, at the same time, gender violence.
After a few months of living an untenable situation, “Chronicles of a Trip“ records the second part of the work entitled “Kaputt” (“broken“, in German), which comprises the escape to a women's shelter (Frauenhaus) and the anonymous stay there.
An overwhelming experience with a five-month-old baby. The uncertainty of not knowing how to go on or how to start. Exhausting bureaucratic and legal processes. Living in the flesh the experience of a system that still endorses violence and protects the perpetrators. The challenge of living with other women and children who are also victims of violence, solidarity without limits and at some point, a certain rivalry or rather, the survival of the fittest. As a spice, the obstacles of a language not yet mastered.
It was three months of living together with 19 women and children, surrounded by chaos and uncertainty. Without understanding exactly what was going on, I systematically recorded the process with the equipment that was available.
After that experience, I returned home (without him). To the same house, full of memories. Here begins the third part of the project called “Zu Hause” (“at home”) and this is where the question arises: What is my home? What is the home I want to build?
3. Chronicles of a trip - Zuhause
Sofía Quesada
Photojournalist
based in Berlin, Germany
Public Project
3. Chronicles of a trip - Zuhause
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