Safe Heaven (Blue)

  • Dates
    2011 - 2013
  • Author
  • Topics Portrait, Editorial, Documentary

This is part of the second chapter in Safe Heaven.

This is part of the second chapter in Safe Heaven. Her name is Delia and her color is blue.

I have photographed migrant women at their homes and during their daily lives. Homes have deep emotional meaning. Through their homes we get to know them, their motivations, their thoughts and aspirations along with the conditions they live in revealing how much they have achieved and struggled. They have painted and decorated their rooms according to their own personal story and choice. With both chapters I am exploring the notion of safety and confidence in relation to spaces.

Safe Heaven is a new interpretation of immigration using color as a unifying metaphor of diversity and acceptance.

© Ruth Prieto - Image from the Safe Heaven (Blue) photography project
i

Tlayudas are sent over by Delia's mother from her town in Oaxaca, Mexico. She picks them up from the postal office in the Bronx wrapped in black plastic bags. Tlayudas are a type of tortilla made out of blue corn and slighty bigger than common tortillas. Its taste and consitency is different due to the way is toasted and how it is prepared.

© Ruth Prieto - Delia cumbs her hair with her fingers. Delia comes a town in the State of Oaxaca, México.
i

Delia cumbs her hair with her fingers. Delia comes a town in the State of Oaxaca, México.

© Ruth Prieto - Image from the Safe Heaven (Blue) photography project
i

Delia Guzmán (19) rests in her bed in company of her favorite stuffed animal. She calls it “cat-bear” because it is a toy with no defined animal characteristic which makes it special and the reason to be her favorite among her collection.

© Ruth Prieto - Pop singers magazine clips hanging on Delia´s wall.
i

Pop singers magazine clips hanging on Delia´s wall.

© Ruth Prieto - Image from the Safe Heaven (Blue) photography project
i

La Virgen de Guadalupe has a beautiful altar at Delia´s house. She is full with red roses and candles that adorn her everyweek.

© Ruth Prieto - Delia painted her room in blue. “It was my favorite color sometime ago, now I want to paint it pink”.
i

Delia painted her room in blue. “It was my favorite color sometime ago, now I want to paint it pink”.

© Ruth Prieto - Delia´s room
i

Delia´s room

© Ruth Prieto - Image from the Safe Heaven (Blue) photography project
i

Delia has one day free a week from her work. She is on the phone with her boyfriend, they have been together for a year and are planning to get married in a year.

Latest Projects

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Stay in the loop


We will send you weekly news on contemporary photography. You can change your mind at any time. We will treat your data with respect. For more information please visit our privacy policy. By ticking here, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.