Maquiladoras

Photographer Matthew Furman was on assignment in Juarez Mexico this past summer to shoot for a corporate client at one of their factories. These US owned factories that operate in Mexico are called Maquiladora’s and roughly 1.3 Mexicans are employed in them. Juarez has become the Murder Capital of the World since 2006 when President Calderon declared war on the drug cartels. The violence has spiraled out of control, and since then 28,000 people have been killed. More than 7,000 in 2010 alone. With all this going on, Matthew wasn’t sure how the workers would react to him taking pictures. ‘I found the people to be very friendly and engaging. I left with the sense that they were like one big family, and this drug war had brought them closer together. And that sense of hope comes through in the photos.’