FREEWAY TO AMERICA

© Noel Quintela - Plastic ladder dancing around the wall, Tijuana BC, México, 2023. © Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project © Noel Quintela - Uncle posing in front of the wall, Tijuana BC, México, 2023. View all images ↓
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This body of work explores and documents Mexican-American culture in Southern California as a mean of understanding how its members embrace or oppose classical themes of the Chicano movement that preceded them.

FREEWAY TO AMERICA

2022-ongoing

USA / Mexico / France

Noel Quintela started working on his first photo book project, Freeway to America, in 2022 where he questions the present moment of Mexican-American culture in light of his own family experience, which he took as starting point for a broader exploration of that community. 

This body of work explores and documents this society in Southern California as a mean of understanding how its members embrace or oppose classical themes of the Chicano movement that preceded them.

The series is intended to recognise the value and importance of the decision that many people made when crossing the border to seek a better future. Not from the perspective of the humanitarian drama or the odyssey of the trip, but with an approach to the results of that decision; their children. A generation that was born and raised with the security and opportunities  that comes with being born as American citizens .

Noel traces a visual genealogy that begins with the arrival from Mexico of his own family in the United States in the 1980s and culminates in the present. To do so, he combines images of real and fictional landscapes as a prelude to a series of portraits of Mexican-American youth viewed from two different perspectives: Tradition versus Awakening; where he transits from the Rancho life with young “charros” at Jurupa Valley to the Queer youth in the Downtown LA or the new Gen Z “Edgar” style. 

This body of work explores the contrast of areas like East L.A or Downtown throughout landscapes,  local Mexican business and subjective car shots along the infinite hours driving.

As an epilogue to the series, the author reflects his perception of the theme through objects and installations in which he intimately addresses some of the issues that originated the process: Identity, emigration, cultural heritage and the melting pot.

“Freeway to America”  is a cross-generational journey starting in the 1980s and lasting to this day. It is a road trip, through the city of Los Angeles in a 1987 Toyota Celica without air conditioning but in perfect shape thanks to its owner, a Toyota mechanic. This man is one of the thousand Mexicans emigrated to the U.S. prior to 1982 who took benefit from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 signed by former President Ronald Reagan. An estimated 3 million individuals—mostly of Hispanic descent—gained legal status through IRCA, securing economic and social opportunities as legal residents of the United States and gaining protection from deportation. The Act offered legalisation, which led to lawful permanent residence (LPR) and prospective naturalisation to undocumented migrants looking for a future in the U.S.

This is what suggested the title of the series, as I see this moment as a big freeway to the freedom just in front of all the people who could join the IRCA. But, a Freeway is also a strategic meeting point for those ones who illegally crossed the border through the hills as they and the people who came pick them up could easily disappear through it.

I arrived in Southern California for the first time in 1992 to spend the summer with my family in El Monte, CA. Introduced to Mexican-American culture by my cousins, the experience played a significant role in broadening my perspective of Mexican culture at large and my place within it. 30 years after my initial trip to Los Angeles I have returned back to the city to document the evolution of the culture via portraits of the new generation of faces who are shaping it.

This project has been produced in 35mm/120mm & 4x5 large format and includes photography, sculpture and moving image.

© Noel Quintela - Plastic ladder dancing around the wall, Tijuana BC, México, 2023.
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Plastic ladder dancing around the wall, Tijuana BC, México, 2023.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Piñata on the sidewalk, Tijuana BC, 2024.I decided to build a giant metallic sculpture of a Mexican Piñata and photograph it through its journey from Mexico to USA.

© Noel Quintela - Uncle posing in front of the wall, Tijuana BC, México, 2023.
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Uncle posing in front of the wall, Tijuana BC, México, 2023.

© Noel Quintela - Prima and uncle at home, Rialto CA, 2023.
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Prima and uncle at home, Rialto CA, 2023.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Valerie; laugh now cry later, Los Angeles, 2024.Chicano tattoos were at a rise when gang violence was prominent in the city of Los Angeles in the 90’s. The “Smile Now, Cry Later” In 2020's this is not anymore reserved to gang members, it's easy to find young people using it as symbol of their chicano identity.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Axel; laugh now cry later, Los Angeles, 2024.Chicano tattoos were at a rise when gang violence was prominent in the city of Los Angeles in the 90’s. The “Smile Now, Cry Later” In 2020's this is not anymore reserved to gang members, it's easy to find young people using it as symbol of their chicano identity.

© Noel Quintela - Vix at her grandma’s ‘Florería Primavera’ flower shop, East L.A, 2022.
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Vix at her grandma’s ‘Florería Primavera’ flower shop, East L.A, 2022.

© Noel Quintela - Sunset Blvd. view from a Toyota Celica 1987, Los Angeles, 2022.
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Sunset Blvd. view from a Toyota Celica 1987, Los Angeles, 2022.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Alyssa holding her grandfather chicken, Pasadena, 2022 I asked my subjects to let me photograph them at their family houses so I could show in a more clear way the contrast between generations. In the image, Alyssa holding her grandfather chicken.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Jeannette Pacheco at the Gaylord Apartments , Downtown LA, 2022Jeanette was one of my first subjects I photographed back in 2022. She is one of the more than 50 Mexican American people i've photographed for this project.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Jonathan on the driveway, Los Feliz, 2024. Jonathan was one of the main subjects I wanted to photograph on this project as, to me, he breaks with some stereotypes of this community. I really like how as a queer person he takes classical gang aesthetics and take it to his own universe creating something totally new like a shaved head with Mexican tattoo mixed with red nails and ballerinas.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Portrait of Kim, Glendale, 2022.Kim was the very first person I photographed for this project back in 2022. At that time I had a completely different idea about what I wanted to do. This portrait represents the beginning of a self journey that took me to reconnect with my own family, with myself and to discover how I wanted to engage with photography.

© Noel Quintela - Kid at Charreria School. Jurupa Valley, CA, 2023.
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Kid at Charreria School. Jurupa Valley, CA, 2023.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Part of this project explores the Mexican American community tied to the traditions of their homeland. There is a series of young kids at the Charreria School in Jurupa Valley or older ones with passion for the horses and the Rancho life.Armando used to be a horse rider.

© Noel Quintela - Kid at Charreria School. Jurupa Valley, CA, 2023.
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Kid at Charreria School. Jurupa Valley, CA, 2023.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Corner of a Country, Tijuana BC, Mexico, 2024A corner can be a safe part, the intersection of two walls that protect and keep you safe and warm from the outside, a home. But can also be the intersection of two walls that cut your freedom, your space, where you can't longer walk through. Like a prison. This one is a corner in the Mexico.U.S Border.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Thomas laying at his grandparents bed, Rialto CA, 2024.Thomas is a second gen Mexican American new baby born in 2024. He will become a new member of the community and family. I wonder how he will contribute to shape the community in the future.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Corner of a house, Glendale CA, USA, 2023.A corner can be a safe part, the intersection of two walls that protect and keep you safe and warm from the outside, a home. But can also be the intersection of two walls that cut your freedom, your space, where you can't longer walk through. Like a prison. This is a corner in a typical American carpeted house in Los Angeles.

© Noel Quintela - Piñata arriving to Los Angeles, Downtown LA, 2024.Last photos of the Piñata's journey from Mexico.
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Piñata arriving to Los Angeles, Downtown LA, 2024.Last photos of the Piñata's journey from Mexico.

© Noel Quintela - Image from the FREEWAY TO AMERICA photography project
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Man walking in Downtown L.A, Los Angeles, 2023.Landscapes of Downtown LA and East LA are included on these series about the city of Los Angeles and it's Mexican-American community.