Paolo Pellegrin

Literature

In 2019, Pellegrin visited towns along the highly politicised US - Mexico border, focusing on the social and political issues of this region, which has so often been subject to crude generalisation at the hands of the mass media. This picture shows a young woman celebrating her quinceañera, a moment which marks her coming of age and coincides with her 15th birthday, on a beach in the border town of Tijuana.

This photograph is an example of what Pellegrin has termed as ‘an open picture’, in which he deliberately exploits an ambiguity (in this case, the absence of her face) to encourage a deeper engagement on the part of the viewer, who can imagine their personal journey to that moment and make it their own. Whilst many photojournalists have perceived their role as creating records which illustrate and testify to particular historical circumstances, Pellegrin believes in the importance of photography which points towards less definite conclusions, and which possesses the power to inspire a dialogue with his audience.