Teodosia

Me llamo TEODOSIA

Teodosia crosses the street to the corner of 5th and 56th with her cart to set up her stand on a Tuesday afternoon in August.

Teodosia’s son, Sergio, helps with the fruit stand on the days that he lucid after his brain surgery

Teodosia unpacks her truck each day in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. On August 22nd, 2017, she had the help of her son Sergio.

Sergio gets supplies from their truck on the 22nd of August, 2017 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Sergio sweeps the corner of 5th and 56th street everyday before setting up the stand. On August 22, 2017, Teodosia stands there speaking to us and him.

Teodosia works to support her son and his daughters. Her husband went back to Mexico and is there along with her parents. You can see that it is the love that Teodosia has for her family that drives her. August 22nd, 2017 Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Teodosia cutting ice blocks to put in the limonada, jugo de mango, and jamaica on a hot 22nd of August, 2017 day in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Teodosia cuts fresh fruit each day to pack into containers to sell. On August 22nd, 2017 she is cutting mangoes, honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple, and watermelon in Sunset Park Brooklyn.

A view of the busy 5th and 56th street corner on a hot 22nd of August, 2017. Pictured is her homemade potato chips, limonada, jugo de mango, and jamaica.

Sergio unpacks supplies from the truck on August 22nd, 2017 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He helps his mom as much as he can when he can. He suffered from a brain illness and had a surgery for it but unfortunately has had some complications, so he is only lucid some days and not others. He can’t sustain a job because he can not work when he is not lucid.

Through the window of their truck is where some of the food sold at Teodosia’s stand at the corner of 5th and 56th street is stashed. August 22nd, 2017

A little girl waiting with her mother to buy products from the fruit stand on the corner of 5th and 56th street. She is gazing at the limonada and jugo de mango that is for sale of August 22nd, 2017.

Teodosia is peeling mangoes, honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple, and watermelon in preparation to cut and pack to sell. She buys her fruit from various places. August 22nd, 2017 Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

A view of Teodosia cutting fruit and her busy street on the corner of 5th and 56th street. Teodosia is there everyday, rain or shine. August 22nd, 2017.

Teodosia putting the chunks of ice she cut into the jamaica on a hot day in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. August 22nd, 2017.

An exchange between Teodosia and one of her customers in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. August 22nd, 2017.

Sergio pouring jugo de mango for eager customers on the 22nd of August, 2017. Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Sergio pouring limonada on the 22nd of August, 2017 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

A portrait of mother and son across the street from their fruit stand on August 22nd, 2017 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

A portrait of the strong Teodosia across the street from her fruit stand on August 22nd, 2017 Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

‘He who does not risk it does not gain’ We stay here whether they chase us away or arrest us. Why? So that when they do send us back, we have money to live on. We have keep going forward” - Teodosia del Carmen 22 August, 2017, Corner of 5th and 56th street Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Me llamo Teodosia
By Elizabeth Stahl & Natalie Salazar

“The goal is to come here, get ahead, and do better. We do get better but very little. And so yeah, one is still here but because it is necessary. One cannot finish doing things. The more we work, the more we make, and so the more we can send to the family to help them. Right now one can not leave because one has to stay, waiting to see what happens to us.” 59 year old Teodosia del Carmen immigrated to Sunset Park, Brooklyn from Puebla Mexico 16 years ago.

After working in a factory for 2 years, with a salary of $70 a week, she started a fruit cart on the corner 5th and 56th street in Brooklyn, NY. “I don’t work for anyone else, just for myself,” she proudly proclaimed when asked about her business. Tiodesa began working with fruit in Mexico at the age of 14, which inspired her to start her business here.

Teodosia traveled through the desert in a group of 6 people to cross the border. In her own words, “to go through the desert isn’t easy.” She describes her most prominent memories as fearing who or what would come, although she had a kind “Coyote,” which isn’t often the case. It cost her $2,500 to make it past the border but her hardships didn’t stop there. Teodosia faces racism and threats on a daily basis. Even as we were speaking with and photographing her and her son Sergio, a man walked past and murmured “what a waste of film.” People from gangs come and threaten her for her fruit and kids throw her things around. Now she calls the police on them and most stop bothering her. There are other people who tell her things like, “Mexicans are only here to take money,” and their “money [is] from the street and not [theirs].” Sunset Park is a predominantly immigrant community, but assumptions and hate live everywhere. Our project aims to expose these biases while portraying the story of a very strong undocumented immigrant named Teodosia del Carmen.

Me llamo TEODOSIA

Me llamo TeodosiaBy Elizabeth Stahl & Natalie Salazar

Me llamo Teodosia
By Elizabeth Stahl & Natalie Salazar