RoN

In 2019, RoN was working in his hometown of Mexico City when a friend told him about cannabis-harvesting work in northern California, which offered the chance to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, as well as a way to travel. It seemed an unmissable opportunity to RoN, who set off shortly afterwards. However, upon arrival he faced hostility from the locals for being a foreigner and a ‘trimmigrant’, a term used to describe immigrants working seasonally in cannabis harvesting. After a few months of intense work, RoN realised he was no longer the same person and remembered a phrase he’d once heard: ‘No one can remain untouched by their surroundings.’ He turned to photography to retain his sense of self, recording his work that year and when he returned to California for two subsequent harvesting seasons. These images reappear as memories, RoN says, confirming his presence in both the past and present.