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From the archives: Crimes of passion have historically been judged disproportionately harshly when the perpetrator is a woman, resulting in longer prison sentences. The photographs published here are part of the research and preproduction of a documentary that explored this structural disparity within the Colombian penal system.
Following the trail of five women, the documentary aimed to shed light on the personal circumstances of those involved and the structural similarities in their cases as they faced the justice system. My job as cinematographer for the project was to find a perspective that dignified the presence of the protagonists, without forgetting the exceptionally difficult circumstances they were going through.
My strategy was to propose a series of portraits. My goal was to establish trust, get to know each other by name, and so on. To build an ‘image’ I took photographs using reversal film and developed it using C-41 instead of CR-56. These photographs would serve as a model for color, framing, and tone.
At some point it was decided that the documentary was not viable. Filming permissions at the women’s prison “El Buen Pastor” became impossible to obtain, and the co-production with an international production company fell through.
A few weeks after receiving the bad news about the documentary’s cancellation, I picked up the negatives from the lab. Something else had gone wrong: the negatives had a deep magenta cast that ruined them completely, or at least that’s what I thought at the time. This happened in 2008.
Last year (2023), I spent several months in Bogotá. During one of those visits, while rummaging through boxes that I have left at my grandmother’s house, I came across an unlabeled package of negatives. Without much thought, I checked them against the light and recognized some of the images from “El Buen Pastor.” #film #documentary #crossprocess #bogotá #colorphotography #archives
My sister came home from a weekend festival for a bit to get changed. She was hungover, wearing no makeup and couldn't remember who wrote on her arm. It made me smile.
Four attempts to upload this photo (well, 1 upload and 3 replaces) finally results in an image that isn't 50% grey...