While I was on my way to completing the first portrait project I have been working on since August this year, all of a sudden, during a conversation with some friends, one of them mentioned something about a guy he know who is a soldier as well as a graffiti writer. I thought, - I have to include this guy in the project!

It’s pretty uncommon in my experience, to meet a person who’s job involves receiving and complying with orders to serve the nation, adhering to legal security processes etc. And on the opposite, has a strong affinity to break the law by paint his name illegally on the streets. Two interesting contradictions in life, the legal and the non legal way of life, a phenomenon that shapes this nation into chaos.

Anyways, I got hold of his contact via a friend and met him this week somewhere in Mexico City.

Amongst the topics we discussed, I was interested in knowing what his job and the environment within the military were like, why he decided to join the army etc. In fact, I was just happy with whatever he wished to share with me as my objective wasn’t to interrogate him but to take the pictures.

He was cool from the start and happy to chat about things. I asked him about some of the graffiti missions he has carried out and the implications, if any at all, of such illicit activities.

Although I would like to go into details about some of the points we discussed, I promised secrecy regarding certain details. Therefore, I will be pretty ambiguous with my description and I apologies if the story sounds unclear.

So Marco, - I remember a place you painted once, how did you get away with it? Marco responded, - Yeah, that was a funny night and it was a ‘mission accomplished’ for sure! 
To paint the objective, we jumped a wall along the compound in order to reach the targets. We then proceeded to paint the spot and after causing enough ‘damage’ we left, simple move! No problems on the night whatsoever.

Someone I know, who was also there that night, mentioned that, had they been caught in the act, he reckons they would have been badly beaten up and possibly even disappeared; pretty extreme to hear that but it is totally plausible given the place they had trespassed to paint.

As Marco keeps telling me about his extreme experiences as a graffiti writer, it seems no big deal to him. I can see a smile pop up in his face; I sense a huge satisfaction that the experience of painting has generated to him. 
And I can surely related to those feelings as I have found myself in the same state on many ocassions, regardless of the risks involved.

I move on to asking him about his profession. Marco, - why did you join the army? He recalls of a troublesome time in his life when he opted to hitchhike around the country to alleviate the pain. He went from Guatemala all the way to the north of Mexico discovering things he had never seen. That element of adventure was the motivation that made him join the armed forces.
During his time as a soldier, he has had the chance to travel across the country and help people. 
What is life within the army like? Marco responds, - it is normal, like in any other job. 
He tells me that there are obviously some army officers who want to stand out and pretend to be some the sort of Superman type of guy, - I am not like that though, he says. To Marco, it’s simply a job to make ends meet and continue to develop his real passions outside the mechanics of the daily routine.

Marco then tells me that he was once investigated for a minor misconduct at work. Such wrongdoing led him into being transferred to Tamaulipas in the North east of Mexico, as punishment . Such State has been run for a long time by the ‘Cartel del Golfo’, a bloody narco organisation involved in the drug trade. Such group has also had many disputes with rival cartels over control of the territory which have resulted in a war that has killed and forcefully displaced thousands of people in the region.

He was warned by other colleagues that things would not be easy there though he did not find it that tough. He would work one day inside the military headquarters and be left on leave for 3 days, week on week. That was much better a deal than in Mexico City, where soldiers have not got a designated holiday time. In other words, they could be conducting military duties for a whole month or so before they get granted a short holiday. Marco spent 2 years in Tamaulipas before he was transferred back to Mexico City where he lives today.

I get tempted to ask him about the military prisons, renown for its many atrocities such as torture, etc. . Marco, - is torture still a recurring practice within the army. He responds that unlike normal prisons, military prisons are very well set and human rights are respected for everyone at all times.

He was locked for 4 days due to a minor offence and never received any maltreatments. He recognizes that back in the days, torture was constantly used against prisoners but the army has modernised itself and is now very careful with its practices as international human rights agencies are constantly scrutinising the institution’s performance.

I moved on to ask him about the 43 disappeared students and what his take on it is. Marco did not offer much information to reflect upon, though he did mention that when any issue takes place, the internal army protocol is to report it to every single department within the institution, that is, to every internal high rank official. 
With that in mind, I presume that if the army were indeed informed prior to the disappearances and killings, then they surely own key information that they obviously won’t want to disclose as this could confirm many points which have been identified by many human rights organisation pushing for the truth.

We finally get to walk up to a place where I will be shooting the images. He quickly changes into his uniform, not the common green one that all Mexican soldiers wear but the presidential guard one which is entirely blue. Until very recently, Marco belonged to that branch and was able to visit places he never though he would ever have access to but due to certain circumstances he was demoted back to his original role.

After a generous amount of time granted by him, I was able to shoot enough images and I got to chat with him for a little longer before I said good by and parted ways, not before thanking him for his time and wishing to see him again soon.

Some names and places where altered.