Ruth Prieto Arenas's Photos of Mexican Women in the United States - NYTimes.com: ...“What happens once you cross the border?” Ms. Prieto Arenas, 29, asked. “These women are courageous. With the social situation in Mexico, the poverty, these women decided to cross, saying, ‘If I die, I die.’ When they have nothing more to lose, they get the strength to cross. And once they’re here, they have to have great force of will to take care of everything.”
What started as a curious glance at a storefront mural turned into “Safe Heaven” — an intimate look at women, many of them mothers, who are too often seen as faceless, interchangeable workers. At a time when immigration continues to stir up intense passions, some of Ms. Prieto Arenas’s photographs are featured in a display accompanying “La Ruta,” a play by the Magnum Foundation and the Working Theater that explores similar issues. “La Ruta” runs through May 12 at Snug Harbor on Staten Island.