Madres Terra by Carlos Saavedra - Words Without Borders

In September 2008, a group of mothers in Soacha, Colombia denounced the disappearance and death of their sons. An investigation revealed that soldiers from the Colombian Army had killed innocent young men and presented their bodies as those of guerrilla fighters to collect financial bonuses offered by the Colombian government for such killings. Since then, more cases of forced disappearance by the military have been discovered. The mothers of Soacha have tirelessly sought justice for the last nine years to preserve the memory of their sons.

Colombian photographer Carlos Saavedra’s project “Madres Terra” is based on the interaction between the earth and this group of mothers, focusing on the roles of both mothers and the earth as lifegivers. In this photographic series, a new world is created in which the models, without any physical effort, are suspended in the soil. The burial ritual represents a special moment in which the known physical world is altered, the body changes, symbolizing these mothers’s rebirth.

Gloria Astrid Martinez
Mother of Daniel Alexander Martínez

Luz Edilia Palacios
Mother of Javier Andrés Palacios

Elvira Vasquez
Mother of Joaquín Castro

Flor Hilda Hernandez
Mother of Elkin Gustavo Verano Hernandez

María Doris Tejada
Mother of Oscar Alexander Morales Tejada

Jacqueline Castillo
Sister of Jaime Castillo

Ana Cecilia Arenas
Sister of Mario Alexander Arenas Garzón

Blanca Monroy
Mother of Julián Oviedo Monroy

In September 2008, a group of mothers in Soacha, Colombia denounced the disappearance and death of their sons. An investigation revealed that soldiers from the Colombian Army had killed innocent young men and presented their bodies as those of guerrilla fighters to collect financial bonuses offered by the Colombian government for such killings. Since then, more cases of forced disappearance by the military have been discovered. The mothers of Soacha have tirelessly sought justice for the last nine years to preserve the memory of their sons.

Colombian photographer Carlos Saavedra’s project “Madres Terra” is based on the interaction between the earth and this group of mothers, focusing on the roles of both mothers and the earth as lifegivers. In this photographic series, a new world is created in which the models, without any physical effort, are suspended in the soil. The burial ritual represents a special moment in which the known physical world is altered, the body changes, symbolizing these mothers’s rebirth.

Gloria Astrid Martinez
Mother of Daniel Alexander Martínez