Text Constanza Mazzotti
Photographer Manuel Ortiz
They stare into your face as if waiting for their portrait. Some of them have been working in houses or carrying out maintenance tasks in water plants for more than fifty years so that they can drink the vital fluid without toxins.
Others are responsible for keeping cities connected via the Internet to a population that, since the beginning of 2020, has taken refuge from the COVID-19 pandemic by working remotely from home.
Some have been working in the fields since they were eight, while others are responsible for maintaining the respirators used to treat patients who have been intubated due to the pandemic.
These are the stories of migrant workers from San Mateo County that, within the framework of the International Labor Day, documentary photographer Manuel Ortiz and photography curator Pablo Corral of National Geographic, make visible through portraits that show the life of these forgotten voices.
The photographic work was carried out with the support of the Redwood City Parks and Arts Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Mele Baihola
Tonga /Household worker.