Red Note
© Javier Arcenillas

International Fine Art Photography Winner
Unmasks Violence in Guatemala

The photograph that just won the Grand Prize in the 2012 International Fine Art Photography Competition is powerful, lyrical, rich in tones, and graceful in line.

As you look closer, a story begins to unfold. When fully understood, the image sends a spine-chilling message about the pervasiveness of violence in the world today and how easily it has come to be accepted as a part of daily life in certain cultures.

In so many countries, guns and killing are woven into the cultural fabric. Poverty, abundance of weapons, a legacy of violence, corrupt or dysfunctional law enforcement, war, revolution, drugs, gangs, and a reverence for the power of violence all contribute.

The Culture of Guatemalan Hit Men

Spanish photographer Javier Arcenillas titles his award-winning work “Red Note” after the police report issued daily in Guatemala that lists the violent crimes that have occurred. Arcenillas follows the trail of these alerts in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico—to tell the story of this growing violence.

The image is a part of his series called Sicarios—an even more chilling story of a culture of “hit men” or hired killers in Latin America.

The job of a sicario is one of the most popular and respected professions in these countries. Young people are seduced by the easy money and the instant respect. Sicarios are strong . . . and feared.

“When they hold their first gun, their childhood disappears, and their games become adult games. Their playground is the street, ” Arcenillas says. “But they rarely make it past 25 years old.”

The sicarios are usually from the poorer strata of society. Young killers train by shooting pets and learning to eliminate any feeling of guilt. They graduate by killing the homeless. Then, they’re ready to be full-fledged assassins.

The Real Story in Images

“These problems of violence cannot be solved with a camera,” Arcenillas says. “I can’t save the world with photographs. But I can aspire to heal it. My role is to tell a story in images . . . a real story. The truth.”

Sicarios
© Javier Arcenillas

Too often, a culture accepts and glorifies violence (films, TV, video games, street-level struggles for power, or legal pleas of “self-defense” and “standing one’s ground”). The stage has been set. But the real-life dramas that play out every day are reaching catastrophic proportions in many countries.

Arcenillas’s photographs are troubling, moving, and deserving of our full attention. As he says:

“Let the sentence of the day be, ‘For once in my life, I need to listen.’ Indifference is the world’s evil.”

His photos reveal a haunting Oh, I see moment, as we come face-to-face with everyday violence. The images, hopefully, serve as a call to action.

How do we keep eight-year olds from wanting to be corner-boy drug runners or sicarios?

How do we keep kids from wanting to do just what their older brothers are doing?

How do we make sure a country such as Guatemala prosecutes more than 5% of its violent crime cases . . . or even just reports the crimes that are committed?

How do we implant a conscience in a culture . . . a conscience that makes it wrong to kill someone or to remain silent when someone is killed?

These are life-threatening, life-changing questions that need answers. Soon.

 Learn more about Guatemala. 

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