U P R O O T E D New York 05/31/2002 It is now my twelfth year in New York City. For the last seven years I have been working on a photo book that will encompass the journey of the immigrant. A story that is not new, but one which appears in every civilization, perpetually assuming new forms, afflictions, powers and symbols. The subject of this book is born out of a landscape - a site I want to explore. This landscape stretches from Guatemala to Mexico to New York City, and mixed with the immigrant character, the space becomes complex and charged with meaning. The most important factor that has contributed to making these photographs is the environment where I grew up. My family were farmers from the countryside of Venezuela before immigrating to the country’s capital Caracas. It was this world that predisposed me toward certain themes, certain characters, certain problems, and certain emotional and psychological conflicts. I made these photographs between 1994 and 2001 when I was in my late twenties and living as an immigrant in New York City.
-- Victor Sira