Hipotecados
Rodrigo Moya
Mortgaged
Hipotecados is a study in contrasts. The image itself emphasizes the monumental nature of the Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco–Tlatelolco, the most important urban housing project in modern Mexico. While official propaganda depicted the complex as a new housing model for the middle class, the title of Moya’s photograph sheds light on the high price that such grandiose projects forced on the Mexican economy—and on the inhabitants themselves.

This dialogue between text and image is characteristic of an artist like Rodrigo Moya, who worked as a photojournalist from 1955 and 1968 at magazines such as Impacto and Sucesos para Todos, in which his images and reporting maintained a critical view of state discourse.
RODRIGO MOYA (1934)
Hipotecados, 1965
Mortgaged
Gelatin silver print
Acquisition with funds from the Presupuesto de Egresos de la Federación, 2013