In the World Press Photo 2023 edition, it was the Mexican photographer Christopher Roquel Blanquet Chávez, who was awarded by the contest jury in the Long-Term Project category for his documentary work “Hermoso veneno” (Beautiful poison). This impressive, raw and beautiful photographic series was selected among more than 60,000 proposals from thousands of photographers from all over the world. With his lens, the photographer captured the history of 5 floriculture families from the Villa de Guerrero region in the State of Mexico with whom he lived for five years. Through Roquel Blanquet’s photographs, he sought to make visible the health consequences suffered by this sector of the population due to the use of toxic agrochemical products. Far from demonizing the flower growing industry, the project is an invitation to the viewer to learn about the public health problem that exists due to the lack of regulation and training related to the use of agrochemicals in the Mexican countryside. Previously, one of the emblematic photographs of the project, the portrait of a father bathing his son, whose condition is a consequence of the agrochemicals used in the crops, had already been awarded the POY awards for excellence.
Roquel Blanquet, throughout his career he has collaborated and published with national and international media, portraying social issues such as natural disasters, social conflicts and vulnerable groups. His work makes us know forgotten realities through the visual narrative of photography.
