Shared Journeys: Stories of Migration in a New Land | Miguel Moya
In the vast canvas of existence, we navigate as intrepid ships, driven by the currents of time, space and the tides of our own stories. We are pilgrims of life, weaving our destinies in a fabric woven together with the threads of memory, love and the perpetual search for a place to call home. In this journey, marked by exile, we are converted into archaeologists of the soul, unearthing the remains of our roots in between the earth that we tread? and the faces that we meet. Every encounter is a bridge towards the unknown, an opportunity to unveil the narratives buried beneath layers of time and distance.
Our journey took us from Venezuela, our home country, to the south of the continent, Uruguay, a country that was drawn as a territory between the real and the imaginary.
From Montevideo, towards the calm coastal cities, like La Floresta, every corner told us stories of wide-open beaches and immense skies. My wife, my daughter, and I traversed these landscapes with the curiosity and vulnerability of those who search to reconstruct their lives. It was the warm embrace of a deep river and the streets where we started to weave new threads into our loom, tinged with the shades of the south.
On the Uruguay coast, the water acquired a deeper meaning, an eternal mirror of our existence; it reflected not only the shadows of our past but also the lights of a shared future to come. In their depths danced memories of those who had preceded us, whispers of ancient journeys and faded dreams. The river turned into a silent witness of ourevolution;, it carried us within its flow to unknown horizons, always promising a new beginning. My daughter, in her own search, found drawing and illustration as ways to converse in this new territory, giving life to imaginary creatures that seemed to emerge from the waves themselves.
As the narrator of our journey, I felt the weight and responsibility to tell this story. It was not only ours; it was also that of so many migrant families that had walked similar paths.
In each narrative, in every image provided, the collective memory of a village in movement resided, of families separated by distance but united by the undissolvable tie of love and blood. This photography project transcends the personal and converts itself into a political act, a declaration of principles in favour of empathy and comprehension. Through images, I aimed to build bridges towards others, to break invisible walls and contribute to a world in which diversity was celebrated as the greatest of riches for/by everyone.
En Montevideo, with its mix of modernity and routine, and in La Floresta, where time seemed to pass at the leisurely pace of the waves, we found moments of deep connections. Walking along avenues between trees that line the beaches, we felt that every step that we took was an affirmation of our belonging in this new world. In the sky, between the lights that guided our steps, we found the hope of a future in which borders were blurred and the stories were interwoven into a multicultural tapestry.
We are citizens of the universe, heirs of a shared world in which everyone has their place and their voice. We honour the legacy of those before us, tracing a map out of our own experiences in the turbulent waters of life.
We are travellers in search of a shared destiny, narrators of a story that is yet to be written, but that is already printed into each part of our narratives. Thereby, in each step that we take and in each story that we tell, we continue navigating in this immense canvas of existence, toward a home that we have always had within.
Words and Photography by Miguel Moya
Original Text translated from Spanish by Anna Borrie
