While I was in Nicaragua, I became very good friends with Nora, a woman who was working at SOPPEXCCA. Marcela, Nora and I had dinner almost every night. I wanted to do a photoshoot with her where we explored some of her experiences in Nicaragua.

I wanted to create an image in her bedroom because it was not a space she particularly loved, but a place she slept every night and spent a lot of time alone in.

Outside her room in a small courtyard where people can hang their clothes. The colors were very complimentary. I wanted to take a classic portrait of her here with the empty clothes lines.

Nora and I discussed what it had been like to be in Jinotega for the past 8 months walking around the streets. There are only a few other people in the city who are white, and, as a young attractive female, she is constantly noticed and whistled at. Even though she had been living there for so long, this can be a very alienating experience. When she is walking alone, she often listens to headphones so she doesn’t have to listen to people talking at her.

I loved this location. The green walls and yellow guard window with dusk just falling, it felt like a typical location in Jinotega. I found out later that one of Nora’s friend’s son had been shot several months earlier a few homes over from our location.

This is a strong portrait of Nora, it shows her toughness. She lived in Mexico for three years and was now coming to the end of her stay in Jinotega for eight months.