A novella by Nicholas Gill and Alejandro Cartagena. 

A collection of 151 “expired photographs” that were thrown out, collected from a tianguis outside of Mexico City by photographer and archivist Alejandro Cartagena and then pieced together and reimagined by writer Nicholas Gill. The 151-page novella tells the tale of the fictional town of Santa María de las Rocas, located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

The story traces this coastal community from its humble origins at the turn of the century to the 1980s, as it corresponds to real events in the history of this corner of Mexico. As years pass, the landscape changes and the community grows and develops. There’s corruption and violence, magic and hope. Characters fall in love and fall apart. Their voices are heard. Their songs are sung.

The existence of this project is designed to question the very nature of storytelling and its possibilities in the digital age. As such, it’s done as a CO0, for free public use.

Santa Maria de las Rocas

There was that time that Gustavo Montalbán stole the game. The save to end all saves. Some said Jesus himself was there to lift him in the air to catch the ball. They all felt it. They all made the save. Even the opposing team, who clapped their hands and cheered. It wasn’t a big game. No one was watching. Just some friends playing together on a Sunday afternoon. The world kept spinning and the game meant nothing to it. There were other games and other teams. Wins, loses, goals, saves, whistles, broken legs. But to those on the field that day, this was a moment that they could not ever forget. It lived on in their hearts like a song. An instant where everything was right and all the gloomy and depressing things going on in their lives went away, even if just for an hour or so. 

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