Technical details
Audio
I recorded all the audio on a ZOOM H4n portable recorder using a wind shield. I then edited and mastered all the conversations on my computer. The technical challenges, related to the audio I encountered are all due to the recording environment. In Mexico, I recorded all the conversations indoors and had access to a quiet room. I probably had the most classic acoustic environment In COMI where I did most of the recordings in a room where all the sheets and towels were kept and was protected from unwanted reverberation. The challenges became more apparent in Colombia where I often recorded on the street or in bars and cafes. I mostly didn’t have the opportunity of choosing the location so I incorporated the situation at hand into the piece. Life is loud in Colombia so I wanted to reflect this. I usually placed the microphone as close as possible to the participant, to insure all they say is audible but I then often loose my voice to the background noise. It was important to me to have the conversations in places where the participants felt comfortable.
In the final audio some of my introductions and final thank yous are missing, that’s mostly because they happened before or after I started to record. It wasn’t always possible to have a clear break between the off the record introduction and the recorded conversation.
Photography
All pictures bar one film were shot on my grandfather’s Leica M3 camera with a 50mm Summicron lens. I mostly used Ilford HP5+ film except when I couldn’t find any. Then I bought some non-brand “similar” film which turned out to be of fairly low quality. In my artistic methodology I mention the unpredictability of the medium. This also materialised in Mexico City when my camera malfunctioned and I had to get it fixed. The shop owner kindly lent me a camera for a few days whilst I visited the shelter in Mexico City. The portraits of Edwin, Ingrid, Pedro, Cruz and Fausto are shot on this Canon SLR with a 50mm lens. I wasn’t as lucky when the same malfunction occurred again on the last day of the trip whilst shooting in Bogotá. Unfortunately I only got one bad picture of Rodolfo and none of Estefany.
Antoni preparing the dough to make baleadas
I didn’t have much choice on where to shoot, I didn’t travel with lights or reflectors so balancing light and space conditions like tiny corridors were a constant challenge. Moreover, keep within my budget, I had to ration my film usage. This meant I would usually take a maximum of 5 pictures per person and hope to get a good result in one of them. Finally all except the last film were developed by recommended labs whilst away. Nevertheless I was unlucky enough that one whole film came back under-developed (Wilians, Dorangelys).