While some dream on a mattress, others sell a mattress to get something they dream of (2010)© Oscar Fernando Gomez
"At the age of 20 I decided to move in search of work and a change of life, but I ended up in the wrong city. I came to Monterrey, which is four hours away from the city I had wanted to move to, and started living on the street with no money, just a bag of my personal documents.
I ate popcorn and drank soft drinks people left outside the cinemas. I thought my life would end, but then remembered that I had an aunt living in León. I hitched a ride in a trailer car on a truck carrying strawberries. I lived there until I was 28 before I moved back to Monterrey.
I bought a Kodak camera before I left to remind myself of the images of León. I got around by foot or bike, touring León taking pictures. By the time I went back to Monterrey I had bought a 35mm roll of film.
I started taking photographs for pleasure in rivers, hills and all kinds of natural settings. Someone mentioned that a neighbour of mine was getting married and that I ought to take photos of the event. From then on I started taking photographs of friends. I read about how to take photographs in magazines.
I spent a lot on taxis, so I decided to rent one to save on taxi fares, since I could not afford to buy one myself. The taxi rental was about the same as what I used to spend on fares some days. When I rented the taxi I could not drive properly. One day a woman decided to pay me with her clapped out Volkswagen. I managed to drive that because the woman told me to take it away, and I started to practice my driving by driving around the neighbourhood.
The passengers gave me tips on how to drive, and by that time I had a wife and we were planning our family. We were extremely happy. I planned to make a photographic album for my future son or daughter. We found out that it would be a girl, and I started to take photographs of things I would notice in my taxi. Sometimes I would work in the taxi and then watch the dawn or the sunset.
My daughter died soon after she was born. We never realised there was a problem until she was born. Everything felt finished in one single day. I began working as a full-time taxi driver, and I no longer had any interest in the sort of photographs I had taken before. I went on taking photographs, but I was attracted by peoples’ tragedies and problems.
I took photographs by letting myself get carried away by my heart and mind every time I felt the impulse or energy to take a photograph. I have taken thousands of photographs which have come to nothing, but there have been others in which I have felt an irrepressible desire to preserve them.
As the years went by I took part in photography competitions that enabled my daughter to transcend through my photographs. Nowadays I drive my own taxi. What I enjoy in life is driving, taking pictures and having a nice cold drink. I think I will spend the rest of my life appreciating that I do what I like. Being able to continue my work will depend on my efforts and the support of people who like my work.
I can visualise myself in the future showing my photographs to my children – one aged two, the other one eight months – and, if I am lucky, to my grandchildren. I like to tell everyone that if there is a will, there’s a way."
New Ways of Looking is at The Former Co-Operative Department Store, London Road, Brighton, until November 14 2010.
Martin Parr on curating the festival
Artist's Statement: Alejandro Chaskielberg
Inside The House of Vernacular at Fabrica
Artist Molly Landreth on Queer Brighton
Video: Alec Soth on Brighton Picture Hunt
Artist's Statement: Stephen Gill
Our preview of the Brighton Photo Fringe
Five to see at the Fringe: Part One
Five to see at the Fringe: Part Two
Behind the Scenes: Three Views of Brighton
John Deakin's Gods and Monsters in Chichester
Laura Burgess on the education programme
"Cutting edge" programme announced for 2010
