METINIDES         00:05:07:20         00:05:12:12         I built a huge collection of photos, just of car crashes.

METINIDES         00:05:39:09         00:05:41:22         This is my first camera.

METINIDES         00:05:41:23         00:05:46:16         I was 9 years old, almost 10.

METINIDES         00:05:47:03         00:05:51:11         My father used to sell these cameras.When he changed his business,

METINIDES         00:05:51:12         00:05:53:18         he gave me this camera.

METINIDES         00:05:54:01         00:05:55:21         This is a photo of my father.

METINIDES         00:05:56:04         00:05:59:15         He was born in Greece, so was my mother.

METINIDES         00:05:59:16         00:06:04:19         They got married and came to Mexico on their honeymoon.

METINIDES         00:06:05:03         00:06:08:04         They arrived in Veracruz, but war had broken out in Greece.

METINIDES         00:06:08:14         00:06:13:03         They couldn't return because of the war.

METINIDES         00:06:13:06         00:06:19:06         His store in Avenida Juarez sold cameras and photo equipment.

METINIDES         00:06:19:14         00:06:25:23         This photo of me, was taken there.

METINIDES         00:06:27:02         00:06:30:01         This camera was made in Germany.

METINIDES         00:06:30:02         00:06:33:07         It's called a  Brownie Junior.

METINIDES         00:06:33:16         00:06:36:12         It had a big roll of film. With large negatives.

METINIDES         00:06:36:13         00:06:38:22         Just 12 photos.

METINIDES         00:06:39:04         00:06:42:07         To take a photo you had to do this...

METINIDES         00:06:42:11         00:06:45:01         Take the photo and turn this.

METINIDES         00:06:45:02         00:06:48:09         If you took a photograph at night, like this… It wouldn't come out.

METINIDES         00:06:48:11         00:06:51:02         But if you did it like this...

METINIDES         00:06:52:00         00:06:54:03         taking the image over and over again.

METINIDES         00:06:54:03         00:06:57:04         Then after doing it a hundred times...

METINIDES         00:06:58:13         00:07:02:03         When I developed the film, it came out really well.

METINIDES         00:07:02:08         00:07:06:11         My sister and her husband had a cinema, The Roxy.

METINIDES         00:07:08:06         00:07:14:13         I could go for free. I'd get some candy and watch a movie.

METINIDES         00:07:17:03         00:07:20:22         I saw a lot of movies. I really liked the action ones.

METINIDES         00:07:23:00         00:07:27:09         I took my camera to the cinemaand would photograph the screen.

B ROLL MOVIE   00:07:27:23         00:07:30:15         When I saw a car crash,

B ROLL MOVIE   00:07:41:05         00:07:43:16         Hey boss, look at that car crash!

B ROLL MOVIE   00:07:43:18         00:07:45:08         How terrible!

METINIDES         00:08:15:22         00:08:21:07         That's where I got the idea to be a photographer of accidents.

METINIDES         00:08:23:10         00:08:27:23         When I was a boy, I'd buy the papers,and when I saw there'd been a crash

METINIDES         00:08:27:23         00:08:30:13         in some part of the city, I'd take the bus...

METINIDES         00:08:30:22         00:08:35:15         And when ever there was a car accident, I would take photographs.

METINIDES         00:08:35:23         00:08:40:16         I was very aware of these accidents, even though I was only in primary school.

METINIDES         00:08:40:19         00:08:42:17         I was in school. I was just a child.

METINIDES         00:08:42:17         00:08:47:07         Instead of playing ball games I played with my camera.

METINIDES         00:08:47:14         00:08:55:06         Near my father's restaurant was the Seventh (Police) Precinct.

METINIDES         00:08:55:07         00:08:58:03         The judge would eat at his place.

METINIDES         00:08:59:01         00:09:03:12         When he was there I would show him my photos.

METINIDES         00:09:03:18         00:09:09:08         Because the judge knew my parents...

METINIDES         00:09:10:05         00:09:14:08         I got permission to go to the precinct and take pictures.

METINIDES         00:09:14:08         00:09:16:07         So I could make my collection larger.

METINIDES         00:09:16:08         00:09:21:02         Every morning before school I went to the precinct with my camera.

METINIDES         00:09:21:16         00:09:25:01         And they let me photograph in the cells and the car wrecks.

METINIDES         00:09:25:09         00:09:30:22         They'd make jokes that I was a real reporter.

METINIDES         00:09:30:22         00:09:34:15         They'd pose with a murderer and I would take their pictures!

METINIDES         00:09:42:05         00:09:45:03         One day someone was murdered.

METINIDES         00:09:45:04         00:09:51:05         Two guys beat him up. They pushed his neck down onto the rail tracks.

METINIDES         00:09:51:05         00:09:55:10         A train went by and it beheaded him.

METINIDES         00:09:55:16         00:10:00:07         When I went to the precinct, to say good morning to the judge,

METINIDES         00:10:00:08         00:10:03:20         ...he told me to go and photograph a corpse that had just arrived.

METINIDES         00:10:03:21         00:10:09:10         When I entered, the warden of the morgue...

METINIDES         00:10:09:12         00:10:17:09         ...grabbed the head by the hair and held it up!

METINIDES         00:10:24:16         00:10:28:06         It was my first photo of a corpse.

METINIDES         00:10:31:00         00:10:38:16         I was about 9 years old, maybe less.

METINIDES         00:10:40:03         00:10:47:04         I was scared seeing dead people,not in the movies, but in real life!

METINIDES         00:11:24:03         00:11:27:10         There was an accident that took place in San Cosme...

METINIDES         00:11:28:05         00:11:34:15         That's where it all began!La Prensa's photographer, Antonio Velazquez,

METINIDES         00:11:34:17         00:11:39:23         saw me taking pictures of the crash. He was taking pictures for his newspaper.

METINIDES         00:11:40:00         00:11:43:08         He asked me, why was I taking pictures?

METINIDES         00:11:43:09         00:11:46:08         I told him they were for my collection.

METINIDES         00:11:47:01         00:11:50:19         He became interested, and arranged to meet with me.

METINIDES         00:11:51:09         00:11:56:04         I brought my photos and he liked them.He asked me to work with him.

METINIDES         00:11:57:05         00:12:00:22         Ask your parents for permission, which I never did, "and come with me."

METINIDES         00:12:01:19         00:12:07:13         I took my camera and we began working together on police journalism.

METINIDES         00:12:07:13         00:12:15:06         At 9 years old I hopped on a fire truck, with the firemen, on top of the hoses...

METINIDES         00:12:15:13         00:12:18:05         And we rushed to the fire.

METINIDES         00:12:26:03         00:12:31:20         Because, I was just a kid, a fireman was ordered to carry me on his shoulders,

METINIDES         00:12:32:01         00:12:34:19         and watch out for me, while I took photographs.

METINIDES         00:12:34:19         00:12:40:22         My face would glow from the heat, because I got so close to the flames.

METINIDES         00:12:43:20         00:12:46:14         After developing them, my photos would often end up on the front page,

METINIDES         00:12:46:15         00:12:49:09         not the official photographer's. Because I got so close to the fire!

METINIDES         00:12:51:15         00:12:57:11         They would use my name in the credits, although I was just a child.

METINIDES         00:13:00:05         00:13:04:23         I took the newspaper to school and I showed it to my classmates,

METINIDES         00:13:05:02         00:13:06:15         and to my teacher.

METINIDES         00:13:12:02         00:13:16:21         Then the teacher took my hand to show it to the school's director.

METINIDES         00:13:16:22         00:13:23:01         And he would brag about having a primary school student who was a reporter.

METINIDES         00:13:23:01         00:13:24:23         'Rivers of blood in the streets of the city.'

METINIDES         00:13:43:02         00:13:47:06         I became used to the corpses because of the movies, I saw so many.

METINIDES         00:13:47:07         00:13:51:12         As a child I saw 30 to 40 corpses daily.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:10:01         00:14:14:09         It seems we've got four Z1's.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:15:11         00:14:17:05         Apparently 4 people have been shot.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:17:11         00:14:19:05         [ mumbles on the radio]

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:23:21         00:14:26:13         - Left?|- Yes.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:31:14         00:14:35:23         We got 5 bravo in Azcapotzalco.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:37:01         00:14:40:21         Where from here?

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:49:09         00:14:51:08         Red come in.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:51:16         00:14:57:08         We have some Z1's in Azcapotzalco.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:14:58:00         00:15:03:08         We are close to the scene Eagle,|There is double Z1 at the scene. One has a gun.

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ 00:15:03:08         00:15:06:04         And 3 more by X-13's picked up.

NEWSPAPAPER SELLER  00:16:29:17         00:16:32:06         Buy El Metro!

NEWSPAPAPER SELLER  00:16:34:20         00:16:37:09         Buy El Metro!

NEWSPAPAPER SELLER  00:16:40:11         00:16:43:00         What's up? How are you?

NEWSPAPAPER SELLER  00:16:43:13         00:16:45:06         Do you want one?

NEWSPAPAPER SELLER  00:16:47:00         00:16:49:05         Have a nice day!

NEWSPAPAPER SELLER  00:16:49:06         00:16:51:19         Buy El Metro!

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:16:51:23         00:16:53:19         Dead Thief!

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:16:56:03         00:16:58:23         I had a client...

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:16:59:00         00:17:04:00         An important man

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:17:05:00         00:17:09:07         He always asked me,|Do you have La Prensa?

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:17:09:08         00:17:10:18         Yes! I told him.

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:17:10:19         00:17:13:14         He had another newspaper, and he would hide it inside!

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:17:14:00         00:17:20:16         And then he started looking. He didn’t like to be seen reading La Prensa.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:17:24:16         00:17:29:23         Of deaths and accidents, with the head completely destroyed.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:17:30:05         00:17:35:02         With the feet over there and the hand cut off.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:17:35:02         00:17:39:19         These images help sell the papers.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:17:39:23         00:17:42:20         People like to see these things.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:17:42:20         00:17:47:15         They like to see corpses, to know what happened, or where it happened.

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:17:47:18         00:17:52:14         Then there are the girls, beautiful, almost naked.

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:17:52:15         00:17:57:05         A lot of people ask me if I have La Prensa. I tell them "Yes, here it is."

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:17:57:06         00:18:03:02         Let me see... Who they have today.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:18:03:13         00:18:07:02         It used to be, if there was an accident, La Prensa would publish it.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:18:07:03         00:18:09:19         But today other newspapers also report these events,

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:18:09:19         00:18:13:02         but with more extreme photos.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:18:13:11         00:18:17:02         Not more realistic,|but more sensational.

NEWSPAPER SELLER ELENA ESTRADA      00:18:17:03         00:18:22:03         I think they even move the bodies, to show more blood.

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:18:22:04         00:18:27:09         Dismembered, or burned...

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:18:27:10         00:18:34:04         Hung, chopped up or stabbed.

SHOE SHINE FELIX BARRIOS          00:18:34:05         00:18:36:12         Totally extreme!

METINIDES         00:18:46:10         00:18:50:10         At the jail I would photograph a murderer.

METINIDES         00:18:50:11         00:18:54:16         When we would go to the morgue I would photograph the victim.

METINIDES         00:18:54:23         00:18:59:08         Then in the police precinct|I would photograph the weapon.

METINIDES         00:19:00:13         00:19:04:22         I would make a collage of pictures to deliver the complete story.

METINIDES         00:19:05:13         00:19:10:12         I realized that if I arrived quickly at a crime scene

METINIDES         00:19:10:13         00:19:13:22         I was able to get the whole story in one photograph.

METINIDES         00:19:18:20         00:19:22:12         By chance this became my profession.

METINIDES         00:19:22:17         00:19:30:03         But it wasn't my plan, I never went to school to learn photography or journalism.

METINIDES         00:19:30:03         00:19:31:17         It just happened.

METINIDES         00:19:32:16         00:19:37:06         People ask me if I see myself as a photographer, I don't.

METINIDES         00:19:37:12         00:19:40:21         But I don't consider myself a journalist either.

METINIDES         00:19:41:11         00:19:44:20         I don't know what to call myself.

METINIDES         00:19:44:20         00:19:49:05         I just took photographs and people liked them...

METINIDES         00:19:49:11         00:19:51:15         Maybe because of my lucky frogs.

METINIDES         00:20:02:07         00:20:11:14         This is my collection of lucky frogs. I always kept one in my pocket at work,

METINIDES         00:20:11:16         00:20:15:01         for luck, so I would take a good picture.

METINIDES         00:20:34:12         00:20:37:20         Normally a photographer focuses on just the car crash,

METINIDES         00:20:37:21         00:20:41:06         But I would frame it from a distance so we could see the crowd.

METINIDES         00:20:41:07         00:20:44:16         It's important because it makes|the photo come alive.

METINIDES         00:20:48:08         00:20:55:01         There are the rubberneckers, others just looking, and those who enjoy the drama.

METINIDES         00:20:56:10         00:20:59:19         In the past people would come to help.

METINIDES         00:21:00:04         00:21:04:22         I would arrive and there were hundreds of people there.

METINIDES         00:21:04:22         00:21:09:07         Often, I couldn't even see the accident because of all the people.

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:21:16:10         00:21:22:07         When we arrived at an accident there were always lots of people, they like that.

FELIPE LEON       00:21:22:08         00:21:27:18         At a shooting instead of running away people would gather around.

FELIPE LEON       00:21:27:19         00:21:30:09         You would think people would run away, on the contrary.

METINIDES         00:21:39:04         00:21:47:07         Often when I took a photo, people would look at the camera not the accident.

METINIDES         00:22:23:02         00:22:25:19         You could even say, they posed.

METINIDES         00:22:26:02         00:22:30:15         Everyone wants to be seen, and to appear in the newspaper!

METINIDES         00:22:44:05         00:22:49:09         I tried to get to the roof of a building, the window of a house, or on top of a truck,

METINIDES         00:22:49:10         00:22:54:05         to get a panorama of the whole fire or accident.

METINIDES         00:23:06:04         00:23:10:08         That's why a lot of people don't believe that I don't fly in planes or helicopters.

METINIDES         00:23:35:06         00:23:40:14         As a boy I saw a lot of aviation movies, I wanted to be a pilot!

METINIDES         00:23:40:15         00:23:44:19         I swear, I wanted to fly a plane!

FELIPE LEON       00:23:51:03         00:23:54:07         He has his phobias.

FELIPE LEON       00:23:54:09         00:23:58:06         He said, 'I will never fly on a plane', and he never has.

FELIPE LEON       00:23:59:02         00:24:01:05         That's how Metinides is.

METINIDES         00:24:10:19         00:24:13:22         Whenever I went to work I'd take this wallet with me.

METINIDES         00:24:13:23         00:24:19:20         It protected me from dangerous accidents.

METINIDES         00:24:22:00         00:24:24:22         But most of all, the Virgin of Guadalupe.

METINIDES         00:24:25:07         00:24:29:17         That's why despite all my accidents I survived by a miracle.

METINIDES         00:24:47:04         00:24:52:07         50 years of taking pictures in very dangerous situations.

METINIDES         00:24:59:23         00:25:04:09         Here I'm leaping from one train to the next. Look at all the people below.

METINIDES         00:25:07:17         00:25:12:20         This is the risk you take to get a photo published.

METINIDES         00:25:23:19         00:25:27:05         A factory was burning down.

METINIDES         00:25:28:01         00:25:33:18         I went inside and I entered through this door to take more photographs.

METINIDES         00:25:35:22         00:25:41:01         While I was taking photographs an iron structure collapsed on us.

METINIDES         00:25:43:22         00:25:47:05         It fell on top of 5 firemen and me.

METINIDES         00:25:47:05         00:25:52:18         I ended up between the wires and the rubble.

METINIDES         00:25:53:04         00:25:57:13         We were trapped for 6 hours, before getting out, safe and sound.

METINIDES         00:25:57:14         00:26:02:00         Nothing happened to me, only my clothes were dirty.

METINIDES         00:26:05:17         00:26:08:00         I had a heart attack.

METINIDES         00:26:08:01         00:26:13:03         Here I am in the ER. I took these photos while having a heart attack.

METINIDES         00:26:13:04         00:26:15:15         I saw, a woman tied up with tape, her hands behind her back.

METINIDES         00:26:15:15         00:26:20:01         Lots of injuries. I have a scar on my arm.

METINIDES         00:26:21:17         00:26:24:02         I broke 6 ribs.

METINIDES         00:26:24:02         00:26:28:12         This rib is completely separated.

METINIDES         00:26:29:06         00:26:36:10         When people ask me how old am I, I remember that cats have 7 lives.

METINIDES         00:26:36:14         00:26:40:01         Counting the 19 times that I was about to die,

METINIDES         00:26:40:01         00:26:43:07         multiplied by the 7 lives of a cat,

METINIDES         00:26:43:07         00:26:47:02         I tell them that I am 133 years old.

JAIME LlERA        00:27:07:03         00:27:11:02         There are more dangerous places than Mexico City now.

JAIME LlERA        00:27:11:13         00:27:15:19         Culiacan, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Michoacan, Veracruz.

JAIME LlERA        00:27:16:01         00:27:21:14         It's dangerous today to work there, as a journalist reporting on crime.

JAIME LlERA        00:27:21:22         00:27:25:21         Organized crime threatens them.

JAIME LlERA        00:27:26:03         00:27:31:14         There have been kidnappings and disappearances of colleagues.

ALEXANDRA MEJIA          00:27:50:06         00:27:57:22         My father used to work long hours.

ALEXANDRA MEJIA          00:27:57:23         00:28:02:11         He'd arrive after we'd gone to bed.

ALEXANDRA MEJIA          00:28:02:17         00:28:06:04         In the morning when we got up for school he wasn't there.

ELIZABETH  MEJIA            00:28:09:09         00:28:14:13         He is organized, extremely organized, meticulous.

MONICA METINIDES       00:28:20:23         00:28:25:02         He'd leave his clothes ready in case there was a call, so he could leave quickly.

MONICA METINIDES       00:28:25:02         00:28:28:08         An ambulance would be|waiting for him outside.

ELIZABETH  MEJIA            00:28:38:00         00:28:42:21         He even slept with his clothes on to save a few seconds.

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:29:03:02         00:29:08:03         For 12 years I'd see him at the Red Cross|I always remember how he dressed.

FELIPE LEON       00:29:09:02         00:29:15:23         I've not forgotten. He'd wear a turtle neck, a grey suit and his tick...

METINIDES         00:29:24:21         00:29:29:01         I don't know what he felt… Fear or something.

METINIDES         00:29:29:01         00:29:32:15         At the newspaper you got used to dressing like this.

METINIDES         00:29:36:21         00:29:44:11         I climbed Popocatepetl 6 times in a suit! Reporting climbing accidents and plane crashes.

METINIDES         00:29:44:22         00:29:49:23         I ended up with my trousers all torn. It's the way it goes!

METINIDES         00:30:37:16         00:30:45:23         One Sunday at 10 in the morning, a young couple came to Chapultepec Park,

METINIDES         00:30:45:23         00:30:51:14         to spend Valentine's Day there. They were getting married in 30 days.

METINIDES         00:30:52:12         00:30:55:20         All he had with him was 50 pesos.

METINIDES         00:30:56:04         00:31:01:02         They headed to the area where you rent the boats.

METINIDES         00:31:02:03         00:31:09:16         Two guys with knives threatened them, "Give us what you have or we'll kill you!"

METINIDES         00:31:09:21         00:31:15:01         He refused. He was with his girlfriend to have some fun...

METINIDES         00:31:15:22         00:31:20:17         None the less they stabbed and killed him.

METINIDES         00:31:32:08         00:31:39:00         When I arrived, he was here on the grass his girlfriend crying...

METINIDES         00:31:39:00         00:31:43:23         ... beside the body of her future husband.

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:32:05:01         00:32:09:20         We were always respectful. When the family was on the scene...

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:32:09:21         00:32:13:19         ...we didn't take photos if we were asked not to.

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:32:13:19         00:32:18:19         We always respected that. Today there is no respect...

FELIPE LEON       00:32:18:21         00:32:22:08         But we still did it.

FELIPE LEON       00:32:24:01         00:32:28:17         Because, lets say there were 5 photographers present,

FELIPE LEON       00:32:28:17         00:32:33:14         and a family member asked us not to take photographs.

FELIPE LEON       00:32:33:23         00:32:40:02         Someone always violated their request and took photos anyway.

FELIPE LEON       00:32:40:14         00:32:46:06         Because if someone took a photo and I didn't, I'd end up with a problem with my own paper.

FELIPE LEON       00:32:46:19         00:32:49:02         It was difficult.

PEDRO MEYER   00:32:50:17         00:32:59:04         There's a new law in 2 states in the U.S. that if someone appears in a photograph...

PEDRO MEYER   00:32:59:04         00:33:03:05         ... taken on the street, they can sue you.

PEDRO MEYER   00:33:11:21         00:33:24:03         Litigious societies wrap themselves in so many laws to control all the rights and everything...

PEDRO MEYER   00:33:24:21         00:33:29:05         but in the process they lose their freedom.

PEDRO MEYER   00:33:32:17         00:33:39:09         In a less litigious society, two elements dominate...

PEDRO MEYER   00:33:40:00         00:33:42:23         Violence and common sense.

PEDRO MEYER   00:33:43:09         00:33:45:05         Nothing else.

METINIDES         00:34:01:06         00:34:06:17         We'd use 35 mm film with 36 photos on each roll.

METINIDES         00:34:07:10         00:34:11:21         Sometimes on each roll there might be up to 8 different stories.

METINIDES         00:34:23:10         00:34:26:04         We had to be careful how many frames we shot.

METINIDES         00:34:26:04         00:34:28:22         We didn't have the luxury of making sequences.

METINIDES         00:34:31:05         00:34:36:21         But when a case was very interesting I would take 3 or 4 rolls of the same story.

METINIDES         00:34:36:22         00:34:42:23         For example, when I went to a fire and shot 2 or 3 rolls,

METINIDES         00:34:43:12         00:34:45:09         and there were no injuries,

METINIDES         00:34:45:10         00:34:51:00         I'd be asked why did you waste 3 rolls of film when,

METINIDES         00:34:51:00         00:34:55:23         we'll just publish one still from the fire. That was their attitude.

METINIDES         00:34:57:21         00:35:01:06         Sometimes I shot 100 photos in a day.

METINIDES         00:35:01:19         00:35:04:22         3000 a month. In a year?

METINIDES         00:35:05:06         00:35:07:17         And in 49 years?

STEVE PYKE         00:36:02:13         00:36:07:05         The first time I saw this picture was in Enrique's apartment in Mexico City

STEVE PYKE         00:36:06:11         00:36:10:06           and I saw it on the front page  of a copy of La Prensa.

STEVE PYKE         00:36:10:11         00:36:14:22           It's such an incredible composition to me, almost like a religious painting

STEVE PYKE         00:36:15:03         00:36:19:05         and everybody is looking but there is no sign of horror on anyone's face.

STEVE PYKE         00:36:20:10         00:36:23:11         It looks like Enrique stopped the procession but you can guarantee he didn't

STEVE PYKE         00:36:24:16         00:36:25:02         and he got barged aside. I bet he photographed maybe like,

STEVE PYKE         00:36:26:07        00:36:29:18        this frame, maybe two, and he managed to get out.

STEVE PYKE         00:36:30:23         00:36:32:20         This hangs in my kitchen in New York.

STEVE PYKE         00:36:34:01         00:36:36:03         And when people come and look at it, and look at it close,

STEVE PYKE         00:36:37:08         00:36:40:04         um, the first thing they do is they kinda like, they flinch

STEVE PYKE         00:36:40:09         00:36:44:06         And they go, "God! What would you  want that in your kitchen for?"

STEVE PYKE         00:36:45:11         00:36:48:22         Then they always come back.  They always come back and look at it.

STEVE PYKE         00:36:50:03         00:36:53:12        You know? And that's people's natural reaction to pictures like this.

ENRIQUE BUENROSTRO 00:37:13:13         00:37:21:07         It was a very penetrating scream.

ENRIQUE BUENROSTRO 00:37:24:15         00:37:27:11         How can I tell you? Very...

ENRIQUE BUENROSTRO 00:37:39:01        00:37:42:10         The market came to a standstill.

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:37:42:19         00:37:50:13         When I heard Melania's mother shout, "My daughter! My daughter!"

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:37:50:19         00:37:55:18         We knew that her hand was trapped in the meat grinder.

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:37:56:17         00:38:00:01         I'm back here, you can only see my face.

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:38:02:10         00:38:11:05         And the only way to help was to dismantle it and take it with the girl,

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:38:11:07         00:38:17:03         and go with her to the Green Cross.

ENRIQUE BUENROSTRO 00:38:17:04         00:38:24:03         The day after the accident I saw the photograph in La Prensa.

ENRIQUE BUENROSTRO 00:38:29:09         00:38:35:12         The job of a reporter is to tell the news,

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:38:35:13         00:38:42:21         even when it hurts us, and the wound is still open. No one wants their drama published.

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:38:42:22         00:38:49:09         They make a living from this, taking advantage of the pain of strangers.

ENRIQUE BUENROSTRO 00:38:49:19         00:38:59:10         Not only the pain of this kind of accident, it could also be a car crash or a fire.

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:38:59:22         00:39:05:12         We don't want to feel this pain, and then have to share it publicly.

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:39:06:00         00:39:10:16         We would like to keep it to ourselves, because the pain never goes away.

RICARDO BENITEZ            00:39:10:19         00:39:14:15         The pain lasts a long time.

DAN GILROY       00:39:46:03         00:39:49:05         Oscar Wilde had a great line, that you can tell a country by its prisons.

DAN GILROY       00:39:49:10        00:40:52:09        I think in many ways, you can tell also a country by its news and their approach to news.

DAN GILROY       00:39:55:14         00:39:59:22        And I think what you see is that Mexican news is historically more graphic and lurid

DAN GILROY       00:40:08:03        00:40:04:01        than even anything that the yellow journalism in the United States, in New York City

DAN GILROY       00:40:01:06        00:40:06:04         in the 1940's really tackled.

DAN GILROY       00:40:06:09         00:40:07:09         Some of the stringers "night crawlers" who I worked with on my film,

DAN GILROY       00:40:09:14         00:40:13:06         who shoot in Los Angeles, the most graphic, violent images

DAN GILROY       00:40:14:11         00:40:17:23         they can't sell to the US market. They sell them to Mexican market.

DAN GILROY       00:40:38:11         00:40:42:03         I think the United States has always tried to live by an ideal.

DAN GILROY       00:40:42:08         00:40:47:03         I'm gonna say it’s a faux ideal in the sense that

DAN GILROY       00:40:46:08         00:40:52:22         we do not want to look at anything negative, that might reflect negatively on our society or culture.

DAN GILROY       00:40:53:03         00:40:56:23         And where you specifically see it when the United States gets into a war.

DAN GILROY       00:40:57:04         00:40:59:09         We will always hide, and historically have always hid our war dead.

ALBERT S              00:41:02:09         00:41:07:12         America was built on violence. We celebrate violence,

ALBERT S              00:41:08:02         00:41:11:12         we are enthralled by violence, we are drawn in by violence.

ALBERT S              00:41:12:17         00:41:19:20         However, when it is real, we cannot digest it.

ALBERT S              00:41:20:15         00:41:25:21         So, these photographs are very real, but I don't feel as though they celebrate violence.

ALBERT S              00:41:26:02         00:41:31:21         I think they document the hazards and the situations

ALBERT S              00:42:40:02         00:41:35:21        that we can all find ourselves in, day to day life.

RICARDO MOYA 00:41:46:05         00:41:50:04         In Mexico, something curious happens.

RICARDO MOYA 00:41:50:08         00:41:54:16         A lot of information about the violence here gets reported outside Mexico.

RICARDO MOYA 00:41:54:18         00:42:05:14         People think we live with a knife between our teeth and a gun hidden in our clothes.

RICARDO MOYA 00:42:05:15         00:42:11:06         There are other countries that don't report their violence.

RICARDO MOYA 00:42:11:07         00:42:21:21         I don't want to say it's censorship, but their media policies prevent access to that information.

RICARDO MOYA 00:42:23:01         00:42:29:06         But if we don't publish that information we fool ourselves and we fool the world.

                                               

DAN GILROY       00:42:29:30        00:42:34:03         So I think its deeply engrained in the United States, to keep violent, graphic images

DAN GILROY       00:42:34:08         00:42:35:01           at arms length, to a degree.

DAN GILROY       00:42:35:06         00:42:38:17         I think it's almost, compared to Mexico, it's almost titillation.

DAN GILROY       00:42:39:22         00:42:41:15        Compared to what you get in Mexico.

DAN GILROY       00:42:56:01        00:42:57:00         It makes me think and wonder and believe

DAN GILROY       00:42:57:08        00:43:00:03         there are probably  Metinides' in every country, to some degree

DAN GILROY       00:43:00:08         00:43:06:17         and each one is reflective, not just of themselves, but the country they are working in.

                                               

METINIDES         00:44:16:09         00:44:18:06         I buy  the newspapers everyday.

METINIDES         00:44:18:10         00:44:22:06         cut and pastes them in an album, by categories.

METINIDES         00:44:23:01         00:44:26:11         Of Narcos, now all the demonstrations.

METINIDES         00:44:26:22         00:44:30:09         Album: Terrorism in Spain.

METINIDES         00:44:30:10         00:44:34:09         Album: global terrorism.

METINIDES         00:44:34:21         00:44:38:08         The London bombings.

METINIDES         00:44:38:08         00:44:42:08         Israel - Palestine war.

METINIDES         00:44:42:09         00:44:49:12         And this is Iraq. I have 3 albums about Iraq.

METINIDES         00:44:51:06         00:44:56:11         Teasingly, I asked him if the structure of the building could support all his albums!

METINIDES         00:44:59:01         00:45:03:01         He's always asking me to buy him more. We even know where they sell albums wholesale!

METINIDES         00:45:03:08         00:45:12:15         I would have liked to be in New York on 'Nine Eleven'.

METINIDES         00:45:13:09         00:45:20:12         I would have liked to photograph the terrorist attack.

METINIDES         00:45:25:12         00:45:31:18         I have albums of everything.  At least 700 albums all in good condition.

MICHAEL HOPPEN           00:45:48:14         00:45:53:03         I've got the one of the woman who has been involved in a horrific accident.

MICHAEL HOPPEN           00:45:53:08         00:45:58:17         She's dead, and there's a sort of beautiful horror in the picture.

MICHAEL HOPPEN           00:45:48:23         00:46:02:19         I find it quite difficult to explain to people why I find this picture beautiful.

MICHAEL HOPPEN           00:46:02: 20       00:46:05:10         - Yeah  It’s a conflict.

METINIDES         00:46:06:01         00:46:11:05         There are people who find this scary and others who see it as art.

METINIDES         00:46:11:05         00:46:15:06         Even though it's of a dead person.

MICHAEL HOPPEN           00:46:14:08        00:46:18:06         How on earth can you live with a picture, of a woman who you don't know,

MICHAEL HOPPEN           00:46:19:11        00:46:22:13        Whose been cut in half by a car accident? It's a very good question.

METINIDES         00:46:32:20         00:46:39:21         An ambulance was called to a crash at the corner of Monterrey and Chapultepec.

RED CROSS WORKER       00:46:39:21         00:46:45:01         One car was trying to move, another wouldn't let him and a woman was waiting to cross.

RED CROSS WORKER       00:46:45:01         00:46:51:17         The car crashed directly into her. There was nothing else to do but to stare.

RED CROSS WORKER       00:46:51:17         00:46:55:13         She had a profound expression, it was very intense.

MICHAEL HOPPEN           00:46:55:20        00:47:01:00         This is one of the best pictures I have ever seen, by anyone, of tragedy.

METINIDES         00:47:02:06         00:47:08:08         She was a woman, her last name was Legorreta. She was a writer.

METINIDES         00:47:09:00         00:47:12:16         The accident took place in 1979.

METINIDES         00:47:13:19         00:47:20:08         That morning she put on her make up, had her hair done...

METINIDES         00:47:20:08         00:47:27:16         that afternoon was to be the launch of her new book.

COMAMDANTE CRUZ ROJA         00:47:27:17         00:47:35:09         That's how destiny works, we never know when it's all going to end.

METINIDES         00:47:36:08         00:47:40:08         The newspaper published a photograph with her body covered.

METINIDES         00:47:40:23         00:47:45:10         Her eyes were wide open which is really rare.

DR KRAUS           00:48:09:02         00:48:15:19         The word deceased comes from the Latin,  "The one who has accomplished."

DR KRAUS           00:48:17:15         00:48:19:22         Not everyone dies fulfilled.

DR KRAUS           00:48:20:17         00:48:27:14         There is a difference between dying  having struggled against a disease,

DR KRAUS           00:48:27:15         00:48:33:13         versus the brutality of an unexpected death.

DR KRAUS           00:48:34:06         00:48:38:12         You realize that you leave home and sometimes you never return.

DR KRAUS           00:48:39:05         00:48:47:07         Like those who were killed in a car accident, or fell from a building, or the victims of murder.

DR KRAUS           00:48:47:13         00:48:49:23         We are nothing, we are no one.

DR KRAUS           00:48:49:23         00:48:58:10         Our journey through life and the universe is circumstancial, fleeting and short...

DR KRAUS           00:48:58:16         00:49:05:19         We don't realize it until disease or the death of a loved one impacts us.

METINIDES         00:49:49:20         00:49:54:11         Three girls were playing,  they had turned on the gas stove.

METINIDES         00:49:54:12         00:49:58:12         When the Red Cross arrived  2 of the girls had already died.

METINIDES         00:49:58:12         00:50:03:22         One was still alive, they put her in the ambulance,

METINIDES         00:50:03:23         00:50:10:18         one of the doctors from the Red Cross gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

METINIDES         00:50:11:04         00:50:16:07         They took her to the hospital, but she died.

MONICA METINIDES       00:50:16:08         00:50:25:11         He is sentimental. With kids, old people and pregnant women...

MONICA METINIDES       00:50:25:13         00:50:29:04         He says he took a lot of photos almost sobbing!

MONICA METINIDES       00:50:29:08         00:50:32:23         It was difficult for him to see so much pain.

METINIDES         00:50:33:16         00:50:41:13         I would leave my camera and help carry the injured to the ambulances.

FELIPE LEON       00:50:45:14         00:50:50:00         The important thing is knowing how to separate work and family,

FELIPE LEON       00:50:50:00         00:50:55:14         If you don't you'd go mad, and damage your family.

FELIPE LEON       00:50:55:20         00:51:02:13         Today I photographed a lot of corpses, and there were children... no, no!

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:51:03:06         00:51:06:12         It happens and you have to forget.

METINIDES         00:51:06:19         00:51:09:14         We went to a scene where there was a dead girl.

METINIDES         00:51:10:16         00:51:13:18         At that time, there were radios but no codes.

METINIDES         00:51:13:18         00:51:17:09         There was a woman talking by the ambulance,

METINIDES         00:51:17:10         00:51:21:14         while the rescuer was speaking into the radio, that a child had died.

METINIDES         00:51:21:17         00:51:25:09         The woman fainted and hit her head, we had to bring her to the Red Cross.

METINIDES         00:51:25:13         00:51:27:06         And that's when I started to make the codes.

COMAMDANTE CRUZ ROJA         00:51:28:23         00:51:39:08         He suggested we use codes to protect families from knowing the exact situation.

COMAMDANTE CRUZ ROJA         00:51:40:01         00:51:45:01         In the codes of Metinides 11 represents the reporters.

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:51:45:04         00:51:47:17         They used to tell us, "here come The Elevens."

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:51:47:19         00:51:49:17         Everybody asked: who are The Elevens?

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:51:49:18         00:51:55:05         They are the photographers who cover Nota Roja, who were based at the HQ of the Red Cross.

LAZARO GONZALEZ         00:51:55:13         00:52:02:04         The R11 means R for Reporter, 11 for...

FELIPE LEON       00:52:02:04         00:52:08:12         That's the R11, coming to pick us up, to cover an event!

ALEJANDRA METINIDES 00:52:08:19         00:52:12:19         We used to visit him to eat with us at the Red Cross...

ALEJANDRA METINIDES 00:52:12:20         00:52:17:05         He always kept his radio on. We'd ask him to turn it off...

ALEJANDRA METINIDES 00:52:17:05         00:52:20:08         He'd say, No! What if a plane falls down while I'm sitting here.

FELIPE LEON       00:52:20:08         00:52:26:05         When there was a call to the Red Cross, it was easier to go in an ambulance.

FELIPE LEON       00:52:26:06         00:52:33:04         In an ambulance, other cars would move out of the way.

FELIPE LEON       00:52:33:04         00:52:42:00         They didn't know there were photographers inside.

METINIDES         00:53:09:20         00:53:20:04         I was on my shift at the Red Cross, we received a call that two gas trucks had crashed.

METINIDES         00:53:20:19         00:53:25:13         Everything was routine. The firemen were helping to stop the leak.

METINIDES         00:53:25:13         00:53:29:10         A photographer from my newspaper approached me and said...

METINIDES         00:53:29:11         00:53:34:22         "Should we go up on that roof to take pictures? You or me?                                          

"

METINIDES         00:53:34:22         00:53:38:07         As you wish," I said. "You go, I'll stay here," he replied.

METINIDES         00:53:38:07         00:53:44:17         I went on the roof, you could see|hundreds of people and the gas leaking.

METINIDES         00:53:45:12         00:53:50:22         And then the gas started to escape as a cloud.

METINIDES         00:53:57:07         00:53:59:05         I was looking at it, I was taking pictures.

METINIDES         00:54:00:05         00:54:03:04         Then people started fainting.

METINIDES         00:54:05:04         00:54:09:09         It just got horrible.|I came down with my camera...

METINIDES         00:54:09:18         00:54:14:07         When I was going down the stairs of the 3 storey building,

METINIDES         00:54:22:15         00:54:25:23         I heard the cry of thousands of people.

METINIDES         00:54:26:01         00:54:28:12         I froze like this, I couldn't move.

METINIDES         00:54:28:12         00:54:33:19         My whole life passed through my mind.

METINIDES         00:54:34:12         00:54:37:05         This is the moment just before the explosion.

METINIDES         00:54:38:19         00:54:41:21         All these people died.

METINIDES         00:54:48:16         00:54:52:04         I couldn't move, terrified, frightened by the horror.

METINIDES         00:54:52:08         00:54:56:05         I was scared the building may collapse.

METINIDES         00:54:56:06         00:55:00:03         People ran out of their houses screaming. I ran down the stairs.

METINIDES         00:55:00:13         00:55:10:01         I got to the street and I saw the doorman in flames like a human torch.

METINIDES         00:55:21:00         00:55:26:14         I saw people tearing off their clothes and rolling on the ground to put out the flames.

METINIDES         00:55:26:16         00:55:30:13         While I was taking photographs I ran out of film.

METINIDES         00:55:30:21         00:55:37:05         I ran to the corner, 2 medics and the ambulance driver were also burnt.

METINIDES         00:55:38:11         00:55:43:03         I started to help people into the ambulance, whose clothes were burnt off them.

METINIDES         00:55:43:19         00:55:46:01         I filled the ambulance with children.

METINIDES         00:55:49:04         00:55:54:08         I lifted two of them by their belts, it was all that was left from their clothes.

METINIDES         00:55:54:12         00:55:58:12         I managed to put them inside,

METINIDES         00:55:58:13         00:56:01:13         the ambulance filled up.

METINIDES         00:56:02:20         00:56:08:00         I tried get the ambulance away from the other gas tank that could still explode.

METINIDES         00:56:08:02         00:56:11:20         My whole body was shaking.

METINIDES         00:56:12:02         00:56:16:00         A Red Cross volunteer arrived and I told him...

METINIDES         00:56:16:08         00:56:22:07         Drive the ambulance, take it out of here! He drove away with me hanging onto the back door.

METINIDES         00:56:22:13         00:56:29:03         There were at least 15 injured crammed into just one ambulance.

METINIDES         00:56:29:13         00:56:36:01         In the end 115 persons died. More than 1500 were burnt.

METINIDES         00:56:37:08         00:56:43:04         That night I cried all night, I wanted to quit my job.

METINIDES         00:56:44:02         00:56:49:06         I thought that's enough. I was saved by a miracle.

METINIDES         00:58:28:17         00:58:35:12         As a kid I hopped on fire engines, ambulances and police cars.

METINIDES         00:58:36:08         00:58:41:12         One day I bought a toy ambulance|because I rode in the same one.

METINIDES         00:58:41:19         00:58:46:14         Then I bought another and another, when I turned around it was a collection.

METINIDES         00:58:46:20         00:58:52:00         This is a policeman from Nigeria. This is a Mexican fireman.

METINIDES         00:58:52:01         00:58:54:09         An American fireman.

ELMO!  00:59:05:18         00:59:09:13         Elmo to the rescue!

FABRIZIO LEON 00:59:44:03         00:59:47:03         This was in 1996.

FABRIZIO LEON 00:59:48:04         00:59:51:17         I don't know if he still lives in the same house.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:00:12:15         01:00:25:01         It was more than just luck, he was a dedicated photographer.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:00:25:09         01:00:31:16         He chose to devote himself to press photography.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:00:31:17         01:00:37:13         It was as though the detectives and forensics were just working for him!

FABRIZIO LEON 01:00:38:00         01:00:43:04         I thought, I want to be a photographer like him!

FABRIZIO LEON 01:00:50:06         01:00:58:06         He would change parts of the story, and each time they were slightly different.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:00:58:07         01:01:03:16         But none of that mattered. What was important, were his photographs.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:01:10:07         01:01:15:11         No one knew about Metinides' work before I met him. He was unknown.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:01:15:11         01:01:20:15         He'd already retired from the press collective where he worked.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:01:21:06         01:01:25:11         He found me. Because he was the one who approached me.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:01:25:15         01:01:29:08         He told me, "I want you to see my material."

FABRIZIO LEON 01:01:29:08         01:01:36:05         In that "instance" that was not a photograph,  he knew, because he's very intelligent,

FABRIZIO LEON 01:01:36:14         01:01:42:06         that a lot could come out of our meeting. That was the beginning of everything.

PEDRO MEYER   01:01:46:15         01:02:00:08         When Metinides took his pictures as a photojournalist, he didn't have a cultural agenda.

PEDRO MEYER   01:02:00:11         01:02:06:00         It was a way for him to make a living.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:02:06:02         01:02:20:05         As the trust between us grew, he would open another box of negatives.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:02:20:06         01:02:24:09         It was like discovering a magician.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:02:24:09         01:02:33:02         As a result of this, Enrique Metinides became a well known Mexican photographer.

FABRIZIO LEON 01:02:34:00         01:02:41:06         So, if today he wants to be paid for his photographs or sell them...

PEDRO MEYER   01:02:41:09         01:02:44:13         He is just being consistent, that's what he's always done

PEDRO MEYER   01:02:57:20         01:03:05:22         To expect that he should|have a different criteria...

PEDRO MEYER   01:03:06:02         01:03:11:11         is to misunderstand where he's coming from as a photographer.

                                               

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:15:04         01:03:19:12         When did he know? When did he realize he was an art photographer?

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:20:19         01:03:24:14         And not only as a question of, he became an art photographer

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:24:19         01:03:28:04         because we, you know, designated him as an art photographer.

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:28:09        01:03:33:08         He was basically doing a job, so he's not an art photographer in that sense.

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:33:13        01:03:38:20        Because he had to make decisions very, very quick, otherwise he lost the image.

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:40:05        01:03:43:09         But here I am standing against a back drop of photographs,

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:43:15        01:03:48:09         and amongst those photographs, are photographs by Enrique.

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:50:15        01:03:54:15         I think he's sort of conning us all: I think we're asking him the wrong questions.

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:54:25         01:03:59:22         And he's probably sort of standing there saying, you know,

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:03:59:23         01:04:03:14         why are these kind of, intellectuals, or would-be intellectuals, asking the wrong questions?

MICHAEL NYMAN            01:04:03:19         01:04:10:00         I think he's got it all there, and there's a kind of world inside his head that we can't really penetrate.

CAROLE NADDAR             01:06:42:05        01:06:47:01         Well, New Yorkers are a little bit like, I have seen it all before, people

CAROLE NADDAR             01:06:47:06        01:06:50:06         but I think this should be a very strong exhibition

CAROLE NADDAR             01:06:50:12        01:06:55:22         because it's really not the usual kind of photography they are used to seeing.

DENISE WOLFF  01:07:02:22         01:07:07:11        Well for me, I worked with these pictures for over a year, over and over again,

DENISE WOLFF  01:07:07:16         01:07:13:15         but I've just seen them so many times now they don't have the same impact on me that they once did.

DENISE WOLFF  01:07:13:20         01:07:17:15         Except for the plane crash. I really don't like to look at that because

DENISE WOLFF  01:07:17:20         01:07:21:20         that is the kind of plane I would normally get on. That's a big jet.

DENISE WOLFF  01:07:21:25         01:07:26:13         Like it could happen to me. And I don't... I don't like that photograph.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:07:35:01         01:07:40:11         It's a little bit like being a rubber necker on the highway.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:07:40:17         01:07:45:02         And you know you don’t want to stop, but you still cannot but stop and look.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:07:45:11        01:07:51:10        And there is, of course, this feeling of better them than me.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:07:51:15        01:07:55:20        That's at the back of your mind. That's not a very pretty feeling but I think we all have it.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:08:09:04        01:08:13:13        There is one picture that I feel especially attracted too in the show.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:08:13:18        01:08:16:19        It's a large color picture, a vertical.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:08:17:00         01:08:21:23         It represents a man lying on the ground that I assume is dead.

NIC RATNER        01:08:21:30        01:08:27:08        If you think about photography, even on any level, whether it be

NIC RATNER        01:08:28:13        01:08:31:20        some celebration, of a birthday, or some vista of a place you've been.

NIC RATNER        01:08:32:01        01:08:34:18        Things seem nice, memories are always tender.

NIC RATNER        01:08:34:23         01:08:39:20        His photographs are literally a birth of a bad memory,

NIC RATNER        01:08:40:00         01:08:43:17        something that people will spend their lives trying not to remember and they will fail.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:08:43:22        01:08:50:14         Strangely, one thing that I keep looking at in this picture, is a little detail.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:08:50:19        01:08:54:22        The guy has dirty socks. He died with dirty socks on.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:08:55:03         01:08:59:15         And it is incredibly touching and sad for me.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:09:01:15        01:09:04:11        It's like a film set, but at the same time you know it's real.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:09:04:16         01:09:09:08         And you get to look for a long time at things that you just glance at in real life.

CAROLE NAGGAR             01:09:09:13        01:09:14:19        So I guess that's the difference between photography and life.

NIC RATNER        01:09:20:05         01:09:28:05         All of these people, they started off that day, as normally as they would.

NIC RATNER        01:09:28:10        01:09:31:14         So there was, you know, they would have coffee for breakfast, and anything…

NIC RATNER        01:09:31:19         01:09:36:10        They are not like condemned people, who are walking toward their imminent demise.

NIC RATNER        01:09:36:15         01:09:39:17        This was all just the randomness of the universe,

NIC RATNER        01:09:39:22        01:09:46:23           which connects them, to you and me. Right here, right now. Today.

DAN GILROY       01:10:23:01        01:10:30:03        I believe we are all in a bubble bouncing down a street surrounded by broken glass

DAN GILROY       01:10:30:08         01:10:33:22         and we are fooling ourselves by the shinyness of it, thinking it's not gonna happen.

DAN GILROY       01:10:33:30         01:10:37:13        At any moment in can happen. And I think deep down we all know that at any moment it can happen.

DAN GILROY       01:10:49:20        01:10:55:11        Much of civilized society is designed to make you forget about the fact that you're mortal.

DAN GILROY       01:10:59:09         01:11:01:08         And we all know that's not true. And when it pops up and we can see it,

DAN GILROY       01:11:01:13        01:11:06:23        I think there's a moment where we go, that's probably more true than anything I'm living at the moment.

METINIDES         01:11:15:19        01:11:20:03        It begins here, in the middle.

METINIDES         01:11:33:24         01:11:33:24         That one is really...

METINIDES         01:11:36:23         01:11:38:22        Look at it.

METINIDES         01:11:44:04        01:11:46:11        It's horrible. Should I change it?

METINIDES         01:11:56:11        01:12:00:11        I took photos, but I took videos as a hobby.

METINIDES         01:12:03:18         01:12:05:24         It's horrible isn't it?

ALEJANDRA METINIDES 01:12:10:24         01:12:17:11        My old boss would ask, "After everything he's seen how does your father sleep at night?"

ALEJANDRA METINIDES 01:12:17:13        01:12:21:22         I told him, someone has to do that job.

ALEJANDRA METINIDES 01:12:21:23        01:12:28:08        I don't think the person who cleans the sewers particularly enjoys his work.

METINIDES         01:12:28:08         01:12:31:23         But in this world some of us have a mission.

METINIDES         01:12:33:00        01:12:36:16        Someone had to do it.|If it wasn't me it would have been another photographer.

METINIDES         01:12:36:22        01:12:44:05        You need to have a strong character and patience to take these photographs.

METINIDES         01:12:44:10         01:12:46:10        You have to be a special kind of person.

METINIDES         01:12:47:03         01:12:53:06         I would arrive at an accident and there would be 90, 110 dead people.

METINIDES         01:12:53:22        01:12:55:19        Some really horrific accidents.

METINIDES         01:12:55:22        01:13:02:16        Sometimes I would fall asleep dreaming about an accident I'd just witnessed.

RICARDO MOYA 01:13:06:22         01:13:11:13         After a while you become desensitized,  but you know you always had that thick skin.

RICARDO MOYA 01:13:11:17        01:13:15:00         From the beginning you could always say, I don't want to do this.

RICARDO MOYA 01:13:15:04        01:13:18:05         You can say, I don't like it.

RICARDO MOYA 01:13:18:14         01:13:21:11        After a while, you do it and you do it and then...

RICARDO MOYA 01:13:21:24        01:13:27:21         What you see, you manage to separate from your own life.

RICARDO MOYA 01:13:27:21        01:13:34:01         At home I never mention what I saw last night. That's right.

METINIDES         01:13:36:03        01:13:45:15         I got used to it. It was everyday, everyday, I miss doing that.

METINIDES         01:13:45:19        01:13:49:02        One day I dreamt about a fire.

METINIDES         01:13:50:15        01:13:57:16         I woke up and went to work, and in the afternoon there was a fire...

METINIDES         01:13:57:17        01:14:03:20         And it was exactly the same fire I had seen in my dream.

METINIDES         01:17:13:02        01:17:16:19         They ask me, in your life how many bodies have you seen?

METINIDES         01:17:16:19         01:17:21:15         I think from here to the Popocatepetl. I don't know how to answer them.

METINIDES         01:17:22:02         01:17:24:16        It was everyday, everyday.

METINIDES         01:18:21:05         01:18:27:05        Things have always happened but not as violent as today.

METINIDES         01:18:27:06        01:18:32:00        There were less of them. There were bank robberies but about one every year.

METINIDES         01:18:32:06        01:18:37:03        There were only one or two kidnappings each year.

METINIDES         01:18:37:03         01:18:43:17         It was very different. There were a lot of crimes but they were crimes of passion.

METINIDES         01:18:44:04        01:18:49:20         Or drunks in a brawl. Those were the crimes.

METINIDES         01:18:49:20         01:18:56:21        Not the bloody crimes we see today. It was another type of violence.

METINIDES         01:18:57:01         01:19:01:11         A knife vs. a gun. But now they mutilate people.

POLICEMAN       01:19:25:03         01:19:28:18         - You can't do anything.|- Shut up!

RELATIVE OF VICTIM       01:19:32:10         01:19:35:05         Let me see him!

METINIDES         01:20:23:23         01:20:29:19         If they published everything, You wouldn't want to live here.

METINIDES         01:20:30:00         01:20:32:01         It's become another world.

METINIDES         01:20:32:18         01:20:36:15         When we know even one or two  things that happened, we get scared.

METINIDES         01:20:37:03         01:20:41:13         Now the police patrol.

METINIDES         01:20:47:23         01:20:53:05         The person who takes the photographs, sees exactly how things are.

METINIDES         01:20:53:12         01:20:59:02         But sometimes, the next day you don't see the photographs published.

METINIDES         01:20:59:12         01:21:05:02         It's because people suffer if they see them. The country would suffer.

METINIDES         01:21:06:01         01:21:09:08         It happened like this all my life.

METINIDES         01:21:10:04         01:21:15:13         We saw a lot of things that were never published.

METINIDES         01:21:17:10         01:21:23:17         And now that the situation is much worse it's better not to know what is happening.

METINIDES         01:21:24:02         01:21:28:12         I think it's better not to know.

METINIDES         01:21:29:08         01:21:33:18         Because it's frightening.

METINIDES         01:21:48:22         01:21:52:13         Another... another question.

POSTSCRIPT                                      

JAIME LLERA       01:26:16:18         01:26:26:23         I saw, a woman tied up with tape, her hands behind her back.

JAIME LLERA       01:26:27:03         01:26:30:14         There was so much blood.

JAIME LLERA       01:26:31:01         01:26:40:05         I never imagined that one of the victims was a colleague of mine.

RICARDO MOYA 01:26:40:06         01:26:42:13         The truth is that I didn't know Ruben personally.

RICARDO MOYA 01:26:42:13         01:26:46:16         But, Jaime called me that morning as usual.

RICARDO MOYA 01:26:46:17         01:26:48:17         He asked me what happened?

RICARDO MOYA 01:26:48:19         01:26:55:00         He told me it was his colleague, Ruben.

JAIME LLERA       01:26:55:08         01:26:58:23         More than angry,  it's left me with a sense of impotence!

JAIME LLERA       01:26:58:23         01:27:04:05         We have to continue...Keep it together!

JAIME LLERA       01:27:05:13         01:27:08:17         Whet else can we do? There's nothing we can do...

JAIME LLERA       01:27:08:17         01:27:11:21         But who are we fighting against? We can't say who is actually responsible.

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:11:22         01:27:15:02         That's the worry. When you realize...

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:15:17         01:27:18:14         that the criminal elements are also the most powerful!

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:18:18         01:27:23:10         When the government does nothing to protect us,

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:23:15         01:27:27:17         and, if you speak out against their interests! They become your enemy!

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:27:23         01:27:29:12         This is what happened here.

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:29:14         01:27:38:19         All we can do is process and deal with this atrocity in our own way.

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:38:23         01:27:42:19         But we have no choice but to continue We don’t have the luxury of giving up

RICARDO MOYA 01:27:42:20         01:27:48:15         as photographers and as journalists, we have to document the next event.