Agony
Artist
Don Bartletti
(American, born 1947)
Date2000; print 2021
MediumArchival pigment print
DimensionsPaper: 24 5/16 x 35 in. (61.8 x 88.9 cm)
Other (Image): 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineMuseum purchase, funds provided by the Caroline Julier and James G. Richardson Acquisition Fund
Object number2021.27.2
Description“August 2, 2000, Tonala, Chiapas, Mexico. After 15 hours aboard a freight train, Santo Antonio Gamay grips the railing of a box car as the train slows for an immigration checkpoint. I was on my stomach looking down when he leaned his head back and opened his mouth. All I heard was the squealing of iron wheels and rumbling box cars. But his cruciform posture stunned me like an electric shock. I yelled to myself, “Push the shutter, push the shutter!” Before he jumped off, he told me he prayed not to be arrested a 3rd time and deported again to the Guatemala border.” - Don Bartletti
