The American photographer who triumphed over death in Mexico

Wesley Bocxe is a photojournalist from New York, and his early efforts behind the lens include photographing skateboard champions doing stunts for Thrasher magazine. After that, his work was also published by The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Reuters and Sipa Press. When he was 25, he had the opportunity to get his first great coverage, the 1985 earthquake that hit Mexico City. An event that would turn into an irony for him 32 years later. Photography was his main interest, and Wesley kept a steady course. He covered wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador and the Balkans, and also worked in Africa, to mention just a few of his assignments. Over a decade ago, Wesley decided to put down roots in Mexico and settle in the area of Colonia Condesa after living in Peru. On the afternoon of September 19, 2017, his daughter Amara was in kindergarten. He was working from home and his wife, Elizabeth, was with him. The land use zoning where their seven-story building was located, at 107 Amsterdam street, was reserved for residential occupancy, although there was a chocolate store on the side facing Laredo street. The building, with no structural damages, seemed safe and resilient enough after surviving the type of earthquake that struck in 1985. But that would not be the case in 2017. At 13:14 p.m. on September 19, Wesley and Elizabeth left their apartment and ran to the building’s roof after feeling the seismic movement. In a matter of seconds, they both fell from a seventh-floor height to ground level, after their building collapsed head-on as a result of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Wesley was found on the traffic island right across the street, unconscious and with both arms broken. His wife, Elizabeth Esguerra Rosas, the woman he met at a photography exhibit in Mexico City’s historic center and fell madly in love with, whom he remembers as intelligent and beautiful, was found dead hours later among the rubble. “I can’t remember anything after that, I only know we were really scared while we saw everything happen. My next memory is at the hospital a month later.” AN AUCTION OF LOVE AND SOLIDARITY “Wesley is a very noble man, and he always helps everybody out,” that’s a common phrase among colleagues who have had the opportunity to spend time with him. The love Bocxe showed to the people he knew for so many years, even after he retired as a photojournalist in 2013, after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, was reciprocated as an act of solidarity from his colleagues. His close friend Miguel Dimayuga, a photojournalist for Proceso magazine, had the opportunity to be one of the first people who saw the shattered building minutes after it collapsed. “I walked down Amsterdam street and the first thing I saw was Wesley’s building. I used to spend three or four days a week there, visiting them, and now it’s gone. I called them after the earthquake, but they didn’t answer. I thought they went to Elizabeth’s parents’ house, because that’s where they went on September 7, during another earthquake. When I went out to work and saw Wesley’s building collapsed into a single floor, I couldn’t believe it". With the desperation this type of disasters tend to stir in those affected by them, Dimayuga made the most of his adrenaline to take action and turned that into his one and only option –to help the only way he knew, with his pictures. Following his lead, dozens of colleagues would do the same, and their cause would provide generously for Wesley. That’s how FotoxWesley was born, when Alfredo Estrella, Gabriela Esquivel, Marco Antonio Cruz, Rodrigo Oropeza and Sáshenka Gutiérrez helped organize an effort to donate photographs. There was a massive response. Over 200 photographs that helped raise 472,100 pesos. Sáshenka Gutiérrez remembers how difficult it was to go out to the street, but feels thankful for it because, she says, helping a victim from her own front, with her work –just like dozens of photographers did – is hugely rewarding. The photos donated included some vintage images. There was one Frida Kahlo portrait, and works contributed by photojournalist Pedro Valtierra, who also photographed the earthquake in 1985; in addition to that, there were pictures that captured the earthquake of 2017, among them, Pedro Mera’s, which was sold in 22,500 pesos. Wesley is back on his feet, and while he continues to work on his business, Newswear, which sells chestvests and pouches for photographers, he says he will enjoy watching Amara grow up, which is surely his most important mission.