Rising up in Switzerland, Constance Jaeggi’s journey from a suburban space of central Europe to the agricultural grasslands of Texas was guided by what she describes as an “unexplainable fascination” with horses. She moved to the U.S. to pursue a aggressive using profession and attend college, finally changing into a rancher and basically revolving her total life across the mild giants.
“Throughout college, I was spending all my weekends and free time on horseback,” Jaeggi tells Colossal. Over time, she was drawn to exploring horse tradition by way of visible means, choosing up a digital camera and documenting the animals, individuals, and landscapes round her. “I was curious about the age-old human-horse relationship and how that impacts humans’ relationship with horses today,” she provides. “Photography was a way to lean into that curiosity and express myself differently.”
Whereas attending rodeos and touring all through the western neighborhood, Jaeggi turned acquainted with the customized of escaramuza. It’s the one feminine occasion of the Mexican nationwide sport charrería, and the exercise combines equestrian and livestock competitions like roping and dealing with cattle.
Escaramuza, which interprets to “skirmish,” was impressed by the ladies troopers, or soldaderas, of the Mexican Revolution within the early twentieth century and up to date narratives like “La Adelita.” Groups historically include 16 girls, with eight competing at a time for a most of eight minutes. Finishing up elaborately choreographed dances in vibrant, conventional, handmade Mexican attire, escaramuzas journey sidesaddle and are judged on their synchronicity, precision, clothes, and magnificence.
“When the Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, approached me about creating a photo exhibition on the escaramuza tradition, I knew very little about it other than the beauty of the dresses and elegant performance aspect of it,” Jaeggi says. “As I started researching, I was captivated by the history of the tradition, the gender dynamics within charrería, how those are evolving, and the stories of the contemporary riders I spoke to.”
The oral histories of the ladies she met kind the inspiration for Jaeggi’s ongoing collection, Escaramuza, the Poetics of Residence, which is on view now on the Poetry Basis in Chicago. “I wasn’t initially sure how, but I knew I needed to bring their voices back into the work somehow,” the artist says.
Jaeggi chronicled groups in Illinois, Colorado, Texas, Washington, Idaho, Georgia, California, Oregon, Iowa, and Arizona, interviewing riders as she went. In the course of the journey, she met two poets, ire’ne lara silva and Angelina Sáenz, whose poems accompany the pictures and take inspiration from the ladies’s tales.
“Poetry felt like a good way to really emphasize some of the strong themes that came out of my conversations with the riders, and Angelina and ire’ne were in a good position to understand and relate to the cultural background of these women,” Jaeggi says.
Escaramuza, the Poetics of Residence facilities portraits of Mexican-American girls in full regalia, highlighting colourful, coordinated attire and their iconic wide-brimmed sombreros. Jaeggi portrays empowered, sturdy, and resilient people who steadiness quite a few tasks. “A lot of the women I met are full time students or have full time jobs—sometimes multiple jobs—and are raising children,” Jaeggi says.
The game can also be harmful. Rivals carry out intense and sophisticated maneuvers, criss-crossing each other at excessive pace, which using side-saddle makes much more difficult as a result of the individual solely has management of 1 aspect of the horse.
“There is a narrative around immigration and the role it plays in the development of the sport in the U.S.,” Jaeggi says, sharing that as she spoke to those girls, studying about their work and lives, many shared experiences of “not feeling Mexican enough when traveling to Mexico but not feeling American enough at home either.” And as a gendered occasion ruled by strict charrería guidelines, many expertise frustration on the rigidity of the gown code they’re required to stick to, which isn’t the case for male charros.
Exacaramuza, the Poetics of Residence continues in Chicago by way of August 23. Discover extra on Jaeggi’s web site and Instagram.
