Sophie  Lopez

Within my practice, I prize the notion of evidence because it dictates what can be considered valid but not real. And when applied to reading photographs, questions of authenticity begin to arise around what is plausible and tangible. As a documentary photographer, I am constantly thinking about the ways I can construct a narrative. In my more recent work, I am exploring the space of factual exchange, using my mother’s living and breathing archive as the source of material and inspiration. Utilizing a camera, a tool of violence, to dislodge the colonial histories imposed upon my being. I do not intend to tell the truth, rather I promise to lie, cheat, and steal. As the daughter of undocumented parents, immigration policy has dictated many of my lived experiences from major to minor inconveniences. In being “othered” by congressional policy, my parents are continually navigating themselves around ever-evolving patchwork legislation. I chose to make the work that I do because I understand my parent’s struggle, and am indebted to preserve their legacy, our collective history. I do not owe anyone my personal history and it is a privilege that I choose to share it with you.