New Year’s celebrations and hangovers aside, the 1st of January is kind of a big deal all over the world. In Mexico—as we recently reported—it marks the beginning of the Zapatista Rebellion in the highlands of Chiapas. In Afghanistan it’s a buttload of people’s birthdays because they’re not really the best at keeping records. And here in North America, it’s the day that NAFTA came into existence.Okay fine, maybe nobody’s setting off huge firework displays at their annual Free Trade BBQ Bender, but the historic North American Free Trade Agreement that eliminated economic and trade barriers between the US, Canada, and Mexico certainly changed the socio-political landscape of each country, and to a lesser extent, the world. Whether it was for better or worse is still being debated.
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Nevertheless, while this may not be a cause to celebrate for a lot of people, for photographic trio the TLC Posse it’s the impetus for their latest project: a road trip through The Rust Belt.The TLC Posse is a trio of talented photographers made up of Brett Gundlock, Mauricio Palos, and Dominic Bracco. Their goal is to document their travel through the postindustrial region straddling the Northeastern and the East North Central States and Provinces, formerly known as the Steel Belt, but due to a three-decade decline in industry, is now aptly dubbed The Rust Belt.Brett sent us the above selection from the TLC Posse’s body of work and we chatted about his crew’s epic and possibly dangerous road trip.VICE: How did the TLC Posse start?
Brett: I met Mauricio Palos on my first trip to Mexico last spring. He was living in Mexico City and we had a mutual friend. Palos let me stay at his place, which at that time was a huge help. I didn’t know much about Mexico and knew even less Spanish. He toured me around, took me to his mother’s house, his cousin's wedding, and through too many other off-the-record stories.I also met Dominic Bracco II on that trip, he lives in Mexico City as well and I was familiar with his work on the border. We all started hanging out, talking about work, the world—life. We were all in similar places with our work and sharing ideas was, and still is, really good for all of us.
Brett: I met Mauricio Palos on my first trip to Mexico last spring. He was living in Mexico City and we had a mutual friend. Palos let me stay at his place, which at that time was a huge help. I didn’t know much about Mexico and knew even less Spanish. He toured me around, took me to his mother’s house, his cousin's wedding, and through too many other off-the-record stories.I also met Dominic Bracco II on that trip, he lives in Mexico City as well and I was familiar with his work on the border. We all started hanging out, talking about work, the world—life. We were all in similar places with our work and sharing ideas was, and still is, really good for all of us.
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We started talking about doing some sort of group project together. At first we were thinking about starting a Mariachi cover band and doing some sort of crazy road trip. Half jokingly, but the intention was there. After some more thought we decided to start the TLC Posse project and document the 19th year of the NAFTA treaty. TLC stands for Tratado de Libre Comercio [Free Trade Agreement] in Spanish.We went to Juarez, Mexico together later that year to hang out and develop the idea a bit more. That's when Palos and I made “Legal Aliens” after I was arrested by the US Border Patrol.We've been rocking since then.Yeah, I read about that border arrest in a recent interview with you, it’s a good story. Tell me about this road trip.
We are going to be looking for progress. Forwards or backwards. We’re travelling through the Rust Belt of America which is the area surrounding the Great Lakes. This area was once know as the Manufacturing Belt and the Steel Belt. It was once the heart of America; today cities like Detroit, Buffalo and Flint are barely beating.How’d you guys come up with this idea?
We're all working on long term documentary projects looking at the current state of Mexico, looking past the daily headlines to find the truth about the country's problems. We are all really interested in influencing and influences. The fact that I am Canadian, Bracco is American, and Palos is Mexican transferred perfectly to the NAFTA idea. We wanted to create a document that would comment on what we see as the priorities of our society. The next step is to create a book, an actual physical document, which is important to us as documentarians.
We are going to be looking for progress. Forwards or backwards. We’re travelling through the Rust Belt of America which is the area surrounding the Great Lakes. This area was once know as the Manufacturing Belt and the Steel Belt. It was once the heart of America; today cities like Detroit, Buffalo and Flint are barely beating.How’d you guys come up with this idea?
We're all working on long term documentary projects looking at the current state of Mexico, looking past the daily headlines to find the truth about the country's problems. We are all really interested in influencing and influences. The fact that I am Canadian, Bracco is American, and Palos is Mexican transferred perfectly to the NAFTA idea. We wanted to create a document that would comment on what we see as the priorities of our society. The next step is to create a book, an actual physical document, which is important to us as documentarians.
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What are you most excited about?
This might sound lame, but working. So much pre-work goes into these types of projects, when you are actually on the ground walking around, getting into crazy situations, it can seem surreal. We are really good friends, so it'll be good to hang out and catch up. When the three of us are actually in the same room, it's a really inspiring time. We feed a lot off of each other.What are you dreading?
My Visa bill. Like the majority of my personal work, this is self-funded. Some of the areas we'll be going to will be a little dicey. We've been hearing a lot about Flint, Michigan, which has recently been named the most dangerous city in America. I have a feeling it's similar to Detroit, where I have spent a lot of time, so I'm not too stressed.Who do you think will get into the most trouble on the trip?
Well, I hope it won't be me, but it likely will. [Laughs]Give me your best and worst case scenarios at the end of the trip.
I hope that we create a body of work that we are happy with and advances our ideas as artists. I don't like to plan too far in advance, for me this style of work is about interpretation. Learning as I go and translating that into photography, somehow.And your worst case scenario?
Worst case would be getting robbed, for sure. Getting my mom's car stolen would also suck pretty bad. I think we'll all have to start working construction in order to buy new camera gear. Palos and Bracco have soft hands; I don't think they could handle a full day of physical labour.
This might sound lame, but working. So much pre-work goes into these types of projects, when you are actually on the ground walking around, getting into crazy situations, it can seem surreal. We are really good friends, so it'll be good to hang out and catch up. When the three of us are actually in the same room, it's a really inspiring time. We feed a lot off of each other.What are you dreading?
My Visa bill. Like the majority of my personal work, this is self-funded. Some of the areas we'll be going to will be a little dicey. We've been hearing a lot about Flint, Michigan, which has recently been named the most dangerous city in America. I have a feeling it's similar to Detroit, where I have spent a lot of time, so I'm not too stressed.Who do you think will get into the most trouble on the trip?
Well, I hope it won't be me, but it likely will. [Laughs]Give me your best and worst case scenarios at the end of the trip.
I hope that we create a body of work that we are happy with and advances our ideas as artists. I don't like to plan too far in advance, for me this style of work is about interpretation. Learning as I go and translating that into photography, somehow.And your worst case scenario?
Worst case would be getting robbed, for sure. Getting my mom's car stolen would also suck pretty bad. I think we'll all have to start working construction in order to buy new camera gear. Palos and Bracco have soft hands; I don't think they could handle a full day of physical labour.
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The TLC Posse are having a fundraising raffle tonight with some pretty sweet prizes. If you'd like to support these dudes on their harrowing journey across Northeastern America, then feel free to buy a raffle ticket here.
