Crossing and Feeling Brown: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas's Carnal Light

Chapter 5 continues a discussion of carnal photography that discloses experiences of crossings of the Mexico-US border. In particular, the chapter interprets how photographs by Véronica Gabriela Cárdenas bring to light feeling brown. The chapter introduces migrant caravans in terms of the notion of flowing brownness, a literal movement of bodies of color as well as a flow of the feeling of brown. Photographs from the series Del Rio and Migrant Caravans are shown as an archive of feeling Brown inclusive of migratory experience of Mexican, Central and South American, and Caribbean peoples. The discussion takes the figure of the cross not just in a religious sense but as emblematic of migratory experience. Ultimately, Cárdenas's carnal photographs show the deep relation between migrants and the environments they traverse and are understood as aesthetic memories as well as altars for those who perished and for the living.