Daniel is an illegal immigrant who has been living and working in New York for the last ten years.
He has 3 children and a wife who he left behind in the Dominican Republic.
Over the last seven years, the only contact for them has been the telephone. He can not go back without legal papers because them he would not be able to enter again in U.S.A
Though I have set out to document this immigrant story, I have also ended up creating an intervention . By introducing David and his family to skype, they were able to see each other for the first time in seven years, at least trough the computer.
Later I travel to the Dominican Republic for documenting Daniel’s family.
My photographs are not just about documenting Daniel’s life, they also act as a mediator offering a more nuanced connection between a family separated. This project is not only about immigration, is also about being a father from the distance, about love and sacrifice for love ones.
Maite H. Mateo
Maite H. Mateo is a photojournalist born in Pamplona (Spain ) with a Master of Arts - MA in Journalism from Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.