Opinion Today: Mexico’s disappeared, not forgotten

A photographer was kidnapped and survived. Now he documents those lost.

View in browser|nytimes.com May 8, 2024 By Jacqueline Bates Opinion Photography Director In June 2020, Manuel Bayo Gisbert was kidnapped by armed men and held captive until his family paid his ransom. His story, unfortunately, is a familiar one in Mexico — where more than 116,000 people (as the official number goes) have been disappeared and possibly murdered. But unlike so many, Manuel survived. Unable to shake the ghosts of that night, he set out to photograph and interview families who have lost loved ones to cartel and government-sponsored violence. I first met Manuel a year ago, while he was a student in the documentary program at the International Center of Photography in New York. He was set to return to Mexico to continue his project of photographing people — more than 200 so far — who had been waiting for answers, in some cases for decades. The stories and images he showed me were wrenching. Four brothers from a single family: gone. A husband grabbed 50 years ago and never heard from again. So many families and lives shattered. Today, Times Opinion is publishing a collection of photographs and audio from this continuing project. Each month that we've been working on this project, the numbers of the disappeared and dead in Mexico have continued to grow. In August, Manuel wrote to me from Acapulco. His uncle, Fernando, had just been kidnapped, and seven hours later, found dead. With Manuel's grief came some relief — at least he and his family knew what had happened to his uncle. We often read headlines about the missing in Mexico, and see images of crime scenes and gravesites — but we fail to see the people who continue to suffer. Manuel told me that he hopes this photo essay gives voice to the disappeared and to their families. When those stories are no longer invisible, perhaps change and accountability can come into focus. 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