Today we’d like to introduce you to Armando Rodriguez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born into the Guatemalan upper middle class with a neurological condition called cerebral palsy, which requires me to use a wheelchair in daily life. But because there were very few resources for people with disabilities in Guatemala, regardless of wealth, my parents made the decision to immigrate to the US. For most of that time, we were poor and undocumented, but I was eventually able to first receive a work permit through DACA, then permanent residency, and finally, in June of last year, citizenship. I am also currently working on my master’s degree at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. The college is actually where Armando and I met.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Armando
The biggest challenge was really overcoming myself. I could never really work up enough courage to really put my vision for this project in effect. I was in so much despair of my own existence that it was preventing me from continuing on with my work. I eventually found strength in the Nietzschean and Kierkegaardian imperatives that one has a responsibility to become the best versions of themselves through hardship.
Gabe
I would say that the biggest obstacle I face is my disability. But when I say that, I don’t mean the obvious physical challenges but rather people’s attitudes towards me and my work. Because people don’t understand much about physical or neurological disabilities, they often assume that the condition I have affects my intelligence. This leads to many people underestimating my abilities. Proving to others that I can do almost all of the things that able-bodied people can do is the biggest challenge in my daily life. In that sense, I’m honored to have a friend like Armando entrust me with the written portion of the Limbo project.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Armando
My work now lies primarily in documenting the lives of migrants on the U.S-Mexico border in a project I call Limbo. My goal with the Limbo project has always been to not just document people but lives—to show that while, to some extent, history is out of our control, we have the ability as humans to take it in stride and make our own history as individuals. Many migrants exemplify this to the extreme, and I wanted to highlight their bravery and courage in the face of unimaginable odds, primarily through photography, which is my preferred medium.
Gabe
This is the first time I’ve written for a project of this sort. Previous to this, I had one short story published in the graduate journal of St John’s College. I have also published an article on international disability rights for the NGO magazine Release Peace. Aside from those two things, Limbo is the first time that I have done journalistic work of this nature.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I think we can both say that documenting the migrant crisis has shown us the varying situations of the individual people that choose to cross the border. They, of course, share a common goal of wanting to better their lives, but all too often, migrants get treated as some sort of large abstraction rather than what they really are—people with their own unique set of life circumstances simply trying to do the best they can for themselves and their families—just like you and I.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.armandorodriguezphoto.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/armandorodriguezphoto?igsh=MW8wNXlvNmVjNWRnbQ==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@armandorodriguezphoto?si=qF8UPXbVIkQDD2Lv
- Other: https://releasepeace.org/that-time-when-the-u-s-led-the-world-on-equal-rights/
Image Credits
Armando Rodriguez
