Photojournalism 3rd place winner

After traveling through Guatemala and crossing the Suchiate River into Mexico, this newest caravan of asylum seekers was treated to the same appalling tactics being carried out at the US/Mexico border. It seems now that the two Governments are working in tandem to deal with Central American Migrants in some of the most inhumane ways imaginable. When the migrants arrived at the border of Guatemala and Mexico, they were gassed and pepper sprayed on their first attempt to cross. The government officials began to trick asylum seekers into entering Mexico in smaller, more manageable groups. Promising them a chance at applying for asylum or continuing on to the US Border, only to force them onto buses so that they can be deported back to their respective countries in Central America. I watched men weep, feeling that they were trapped in an impossible situation. Their journey ahead was obstructed by cruel government policies, yet returning to their homeland could mean living a life of extortion, impoverishment, and possibly death at the hands of the ruling gangs.

Ada Trillo is an interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Philadelphia. Born on the American/Mexican border, she is influenced by her cultural heritage of the Southwest and Mexico, traveling there frequently for her artistic practice. She studied in Italy and Philadelphia, and her work has been featured in solo, two-person, and group exhibitions. Trillo is represented by Racso Fine Arts and Twenty-Two Gallery.

Ada is currently working on a photo documentary exposé of low-cost sex workers in Mexico. The series includes both a collection of photos taken in the brothels of Mexico deglamorizing prostitution and showing the dehumanizing conditions of their work, as well as an artistic depiction of each woman's spirit inspired by on-site interviews conducted with each of them.

Exhibits:
How Did I Get Here- A solo photography show- Twenty- Two Gallery July13 to August 6th, 2017
Philadelphia Historic House Museum- Solo Show-May 26, 2016

Group
Caliban Revisited- The Da Vinci Art Alliance June 7th to June 25th, 2017
Works by Latin American Women-Three woman show- RACSO Gallery October 8th to November 8th, 2016
New Works by Jose Ortiz-Pegan and Ada Trillo- RACSO Gallery August 2016

Collections:
The Philadelphia Museum of Art

Awards:The photo Review contest edition