Latin America Professional Award 2022 Shortlist

In Mexico less than 1% of cargo and passenger truck operators are women. Over the last decade, a group of women have appeared on the national transportation scene as truck operators – traileras – in a sector that has always been male-dominated. Their lives seemed condemned to the domestic sphere. Not wanting to resign themselves to this life, the ‘Reinas de la 57’ (Queens of 57th) began to exercise their Independence and right to belong in this industry, learning the trade with the same professionalism and responsibility as anyone else. They entered the truck world on their own terms, applying their own experiences. They now seek to draw attention to their often ignored reality, in order to improve their working and safety conditions. Reinas de la 57 is an ongoing project that documents the journey, struggles and daily life on the road of eight women who never set out to be extraordinary, but became so thanks to their character and passion for trucks.

Photographer. After studying psychology, he began a career as a truck operator in Mexico. Later, he studied photography in Academia de Artes Visuales, Mexico City and the Raghu Rai Center for Photography, New Delhi. Recently, he self-published a photobook of his newest project "Queens of 57th”, which drove him onto a long journey through Mexican highways alongside 8 women truck operators, whom he interviewed and documented on their daily life and struggles. He currently lives and works in Mexico City.