Chupacabras

In Mexico, in 1996, on high rating television channels and in newspapers with great circulation, a mythical, fantastic and surreal being became the protagonist for several weeks: the Chupacabra. It was described as a legendary cryptid that attacked animals, and sometimes people, in rural areas. Its name comes from his blood-sucking habits which consist of depriving his victims of all their blood. This project was born from the hypothesis that the Chupacabra myth served as a smokescreen for the Mexican government in a stage of deep social, political, and economic crisis.

Through staged photography (based on the compilation of media material and interviews), I seek to create an imaginary space where I can explore and reveal the mechanisms of construction of the Chupacabra as a social myth used by the media to manipulate and exercise a politics of fear.

These pictures represent the pieces of the puzzle that were necessary for the media to create the Chupacabra.

With this project, I explore the following questions: How do our governments use the media to hide or reveal information? How do our governments use fear as a weapon of power?

I believe the relevance of this body of work relies on how, even if the information has been democratized and expanded, we continue to experience media manipulation and misinformation. Social media and fake news, in part, end up influencing us to the point of not knowing how to differentiate between what is true and what could be fiction.

In the nineties, in Mexico, the Chupacabra served to deviate people's attention. Nowadays we are probably living another smokescreen, another Chupacabra. In these pictures, I chose not to show the monster because I believe everyone has a different idea of what the Chupacabra represents. For some people, it can be a monster, a legend, or a nightmare they had when they were young... for others, it can represent the corruption of the Mexican government, the economic crisis, or even the infantilization of the Mexican people by their government.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
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The Edge of the Knife - The first attack of the Chupacabra happen in 1996. After that various men tried to hunt and kill the Chupacabra without any success.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
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The Victim - Unfortunately, there were some human victims too. In Mexico, two man were attacked by the Chupacabra. One of them survived while the other one was killed. In an interview with family members, the brother of the deceased tells that he does not believe in this creature and that his brother was certainly killed by a drug cartel.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - The Interview - The media compiles data on alleged Chupacabra attacks and vandalism in rural areas of the country.
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The Interview - The media compiles data on alleged Chupacabra attacks and vandalism in rural areas of the country.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - The Goat
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The Goat

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
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The Media and the Economic Crisis - In the nineties, the mass media changed. It became one of the most important power in Mexico and it was full of corruption. The media could control who would be selected as President. Instead of talking about the economic, social, and political crisis that was taking place in Mexico, they decided to show the Chupacabra's story for several weeks. "I think it was the crisis, right? Salinas was in power. And they feeded bread and circuses to the people... The news always began with "El Chupacabra appeared in such a place and attacked this animal" Farmers complained about their cattle, their goats..."

© Eleana Konstantellos André - The Reporter - Many reporters that were starting their careers had to report about the Chupacabra phenomenon.
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The Reporter - Many reporters that were starting their careers had to report about the Chupacabra phenomenon.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
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The Origins - "Many said, well... At first one imagined that it was like a kind of vampire that had wings, fangs, claws... The color of the body, many said it was like gray, others said it was like green... with bulging eyes... why was nothing else in the nights when… when he attacked the farms."

© Eleana Konstantellos André - The Narcos - There is a theory saying that the Chupacabra existed only in order to cover the narco's war.
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The Narcos - There is a theory saying that the Chupacabra existed only in order to cover the narco's war.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
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The Religion - Mexico is a very religious country. Some of the people who were afraid of the Chupacabra relied on religion and even bath their cattle in holy water.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
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The Territory - The Chupacabra toured all around Mexico. Mainly it attacked in the north of the country, in desert and rural areas.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
© Eleana Konstantellos André - The Beast - The Chupacabra was mistaken for a hairless dog.
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The Beast - The Chupacabra was mistaken for a hairless dog.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - Image from the Chupacabras photography project
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The Trap - There were a lot of imaginative ways to chase the beast. Some cattlemen used weapons. I imagine this could be one of those.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - The Hunter - A woman awaits patiently the monster.
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The Hunter - A woman awaits patiently the monster.

© Eleana Konstantellos André - The Darkest Night - The eyes of the beast reflect the flash light in the dark, ready to attack.
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The Darkest Night - The eyes of the beast reflect the flash light in the dark, ready to attack.

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