In 1992, the Chiapas Photography Project was started as an educational and artistic program for indigenous people. The project consists of a training program, a collection, and promotion of the photographers' work through publications and exhibitions. Participants, more than 200 men and women from several ethnic groups, choose their own subjects and make pictures according to their way of seeing. Most of these activities are part of the Indigenous Photography Archive, begun in 1996 with major support from the Ford Foundation and institutional support from the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS). With the establishment in 2002 of the association Lok'tamayach / Indigenous Photographers from Chiapas, the Chiapas Photography Project has broadened its activities and its vision. Both of these organizations are based in San Cristóbal de las Casas, the highland commercial center for the many indigenous communities in Chiapas.

"My interest in starting the Chiapas Photography Project (CPP) began and continues to be based on my response to the Society of the Sacred Heart's mission of education and justice", writes Carlota Duarte rscj. "As a professional artist my activities and interests have largely been focused on trying to facilitate in some way the voice of those lacking or deprived of the opportunity to speak for themselves. The CPP was begun in part to assist Maya peoples in Chiapas, Mexico with access to the tools of photography so that they might express whatever they wish through this medium. As an artist I am of course interested in what the images look like. In addition, as one trying to share in the Society's efforts to promote justice, I started the CPP in order to support the personal and community interests and efforts of indigenous people to be recognized and to have an acknowledged place in their own country and in the world. CPP activities have resulted in many public activities and international recognition. More importantly, CPP has supported the self-esteem of the participants and provided some knowledge and access to and interaction with the world beyond their communities, including other indigenous individuals and communities in the state of Chiapas and other Mexican states. In recent years Mexico has been working toward national recognition of the multicultural/multi-lingual character of the country and the importance of making available space for all citizens. CPP has thus also had a social impact and a part in understanding the reality of Mexican society and its diverse cultures."

The four principal activities of Archivo Fotográfico Indígena (AFI) are education, collection, outreach and research. Lok'tamayach directs most of the education activities, which begin with basic instruction about camera use, and following this, a program of workshops to improve technique and to develop individual projects. The base of the collection that is housed at AFI, is made up of the photographers' negatives, with approximately 75,000 images the majority of which are color, with a growing area of black and white work. The photographers are not only forming this collection for their present-day communities, but so that their descendants will have their own visual history. AFI's third main activity is outreach, which includes exhibitions and publications as well as slide presentations and participation in panel discussions and other public activities. All publications and exhibitions are multilingual: the first language of the photographer, Spanish and English. Finally, the indigenous photographers as well as many international, outside researchers consult AFI's collection and frequently request permission to use images for academic and other purposes - books, theses, articles, videos etc.

Photographs taken by members of the project are exhibited in Creative Space of this month.   Click here to see them.

For further information on the Chiapas Photography Project, please see their website:
http://www.chiapasphoto.org

Other articles can be found in:
NYTimes : http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/arts/design/23kino.html
Mexicanwave: http://www.mexicanwave.com/blog/200511/20051103.html