A zine turned photobook, turned documentary, turned event

Captura at the September 28, 2024 photowalk. Photography by Angela Chiquiza

What should we do? How can we support our community?

These are the questions we ask ourselves every couple of weeks when planning the next Captura event. After burning out from taking portraits over the summer, we eventually fell back onto one of the foundations for Victoria’s and I’s friendship. The year is 2020, I began to accompany Victoria on photo walks for her project, Highway Inmigrante. We connected on our mutual ideas regarding photography, activism, and community. Meeting Victoria - I rediscovered how creativity can be a powerful tool to advocate for a better life and the importance of documenting our histories. This, combined with Captura’s mission to empower and amplify Latine and Indigenous photographers, inspired Victoria to extend the reach of the “Healing our Highways*” grant that she was awarded.

*Smart Growth America provided the Healing Our Highways grant, “a program that seeks proposals from artists and culture bearers using creativity and collaboration to upend existing car-centric transportation systems and advance climate action.”

The idea began as a zine — a collection of a few photographs highlighting transportation inequity alongside Buford Highway from multiple perspectives. Once this idea was accepted by Smart Growth America, Victoria shared the sign up instructions and meticulously created the route for the photowalk for the group. Our first photowalk occurred September 28, 2024. I was out of town but would consistently hear about the impact it made on the photographers for many days after. Reflecting on what was shared with me, I suggested we produce a documentary for the second photowalk.

The second photowalk occurred on November 29, 2024. We recruited Naomi Watson to document the experience. In the short documentary, the group walked a 3 mile second route while reflecting on how transportation affects the lives of everyday people as photographers and community members. These moments and photographs would ultimately result in the publishing of the collaborative photobook and its accompanying film, "We'll Get There No Matter What."

Captura at the November 29, 2024 photowalk. Photography by Vianey Cecilio

On February 1, 2025, we would celebrate these accomplishments and showcase the club’s work to 100+ attendees at the Doraville Civic Center. The photobook would contain 75 photographs and handwritten reflections by 16 Captura members. The documentary would last 5:39 minutes. We welcomed the attendance of local historians, artists, journalists, musicians, community members, urban planners who were able to meet the photographers. Through our collective work, we awakened critical thoughts regarding the experience of growing up within or surrounded by immigrant communities in car-centric areas.

Thank you to Gorditas ATL, DJ Zolcalo, and Topochico for providing the food, drinks, and music.

Since then, Captura has shared the journey and ethics encountered throughout the production process with Dr. Yami Rodriguez’s history class on “The Migrant South” and have stocked copies in the locally-owned radical bookstore, Community Books.

Everyday, we are reminded and delighted to know the project’s heart has reached so many. We are beyond grateful for all Captura members and allies who participated in its success. Thank you again to our vendors, friends, and community for supporting our mission, and photographers. We are excited to continue the journey with “We’ll Get There No Matter What” this spring at local events.