By Susan Wallner, JerseyArts.com
originally published: 12/10/2020
Ada Trillo is a bilingual documentary photographer who grew up–literally–crossing the border. Born in El Paso, her family moved to Juárez when she was young, but she attended school in Texas. It meant an hours-long commute over the border every day. Trillo went on to become a painter, but Donald Trump’s hateful comments about Mexicans when he was first running for president caused her to make a radical shift. She had to show the people she knew.
Her photo journey began with a ride on the notoriously dangerous “La Bestia,” a freight train hopped by migrants and asylum seekers with no other options. The Noyes Museum’s Kramer Gallery in Hammonton, NJ, is now showing a selection of Trillo’s portraits in the exhibition “If Walls Could Speak: Asylum Seekers,” open both in person and online through January 8, 2021.
Trillo spoke by cell phone to producer Susan Wallner about her life and her documentary art.
Cover photos: “Ismael Casa del Migrante,” “La Bestia,” “Laura,” “Quinceanera,” and “Leeway Wiliam Gonsalez”
About the author: Susan Wallner is a principal of PCK Media, an independent production company. She is the co-series producer of the public television program 'State of the Arts,' a job that has introduced her to a wealth of talent and artistic diversity over the years. Susan's documentaries and performance specials have aired nationally. Most recently, her profile of the writer, aviator and celebrity, 'Anne Morrow Lindbergh: You’ll Have the Sky,' won the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Best Feature Writing (it was Susan's 15th regional Emmy win). Narrated by Judith Light and Lily Rabe, it aired throughout the country on PBS and PBS World, and is available on DVD. Currently, Susan is working on a documentary about the self-taught city planner, builder, and artist, Kea Tawana.
Content provided by
Discover Jersey Arts, a project of the ArtPride New Jersey Foundation and New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
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