The Mexican Affair: CHOLOMBIANOS by Amanda Watkins
Amanda Watkins is the photographer behind the series CHOLOMBIANOS and The Mexican Affair, a collection of photographs about one of the most unique tribes of the subculture of Monterrey (Mexico).
The CHOLOMBIANOS culture was born out of an interest in the music from Colombia called CUMBIA, hence the name. Cumbia is a folkloric, dance genre that since the '40s has spread to the rest of Latin America.
The most peculiar thing about this urban tribe is their extravagant hairstyles and oversized clothing(influenced by the North American CHOLOS) and their particular way of dancing.
While that community still exists today, since 2013 it has been dwindling, due to a lack of understanding and unfair targeting, leading to unjust treatment from police and other authorities.
GATA talks to the artist to learn more about this tribe and the fascinating Mexican street culture.
“When I lived in London I was at the royal college of art doing fashion, I would do my research taking photos on the street, anybody who had something unique about their style. It influenced my fashion collection, which sold in Tokyo actually in a boutique, it was all made with a combination of reused elements. My friend invited me to Mexico to teach at a university in Monterrey; it was the start of a trip into a completely different culture.”
— AMANDA WATKINS
“I arrived in Mexico in 2007 and was always going downtown and started seeing these guys with a cool street style look but they were referred to as the “rebels of the town”, mostly actually teenagers enjoying a weird style which they were making up as they went along.
I had never seen anything like it before so I found out where they went, got to know a few of them and arrived always with a camera, that was about 2008. Over about 3 years the style really took shape and the boys would constantly arrive in variations of the look, fun and very inventive. The interpretations with craft and the culture of the hip hop look was evident.
The style was growing in popularity; their ideas and creativity, so different to what I would see in London, much brighter colours and I was enjoying seeing all the handmade elements. They were in their translation of elements taken from contemporary street style but in a handcrafted manner and it meant everything was custom made by friends which made it very personal.”
“This era in the north of Mexico was also my introduction to cumbia music and I loved it, the dances were always amazing, with live music and the bands would arrive and walk straight on stage and play, people would dance immediately, they would dance around in a big circle like a tribe and the feeling was very tangible, you had to join in, it was great fun.”
“What also struck me was how difficult it became to identify what country people were from, in their photos, the streets of cities around the world seemed a bit homogenous and it made me determined to create the book in a simple collage style to represent best their handmade aspect, as there was so much to it, compared to what other teenagers were doing.
I was also inspired by photo books such as Skinheads by Nick Knight, Fruits magazine from Tokyo, Gentlemen of Bacongo, the Sartorialist and the books and photos of the punks and all street styles of the past. I felt this time Monterrey was reminiscent of these, a movement taking hold, various sub-cultures, it’s important to document it, if you have the opportunity it was a unique period in Mexico, and this is the style of the guys who were right in the heart of it.
Gradually they started to wear more American shirts it was too normal, it ran its course, the style changed as they grew out of it.”
“My photographs are part of a Design museum/London exhibition-Sneakers Unboxed which is open all throughout summer 2021 and gives an in-depth view of the street-style expressed through from the 1970s, when people really started to adopt trainers for everyday wear.”
“Right now I am working on a photography project about another local group of guys as well as with indigenous embroiders in Yucatan, making handmade linen kaftans and some kimonos, Mexican style, as I also love Japanese culture from the past. The women are experts at embroidery so it’s lovely to support handmade, less is more and to enjoy simplicity””
