Corporate Human

Corporate Human[1]

Years ago, when holding a book of 200 portraits collected to capture humanity, I noticed something intriguing. Despite the extraordinary variety of people and communities depicted - people of colour, redheads, brunettes, Caucasians, albinos, entrepreneurs, members of the LGBTQ+ community, musicians, artists, bakers, fishermen, sex workers, individuals with terminal illnesses, newborns, the elderly, military personnel, street sweepers, and so forth - there was a glaring absence. Nowhere did I find a portrait representing millions of those of us who toil away for long days and sometimes decades within corporate environments.

This seed of doubt prompted me to search for documentary photography centred around the "Corporate Human" - the term I began using to describe people like me, who work within large transnational companies. Yet, soon I realised that such projects are exceedingly rare.[2]

I pondered, what is the reason behind such a gap? Why are visual artists not so keen to explore the Corporate Humans? What are their thoughts, dreams, desires, fears, and stories beyond the corporate rhetoric we are obligated to adopt?

Countless hypotheses swirled in my mind. Could it be that Corporate Humans’ stories are seemingly not interesting? Perhaps, by serving corporations, we appear as though we were all the same, and indeed we lose our identities? Or could access become an issue? Could it be that we, Corporate Humans, are perceived as dishonest and plastic? Or perhaps we hesitate to take the risk of sharing beyond our professional selves, perhaps out of fear of jeopardising the status quo?

Who is the Corporate Human, actually? What is their story? What if, instead of being hyper-individualised and competitive, we/they have quietly transitioned to creating communities working towards shared dreams? In particular, those dreams that extend beyond the relentless pursuit of profitability.

This project is laden with ontological - of being - and also teleological - of purpose - reflections on the Corporate Human. I'm intrigued how we, individuals dedicated to business, marketing and sales at scale, have contributed to shaping the world of today. This process has undeniably yielded positive outcomes, extensively communicated in an exaggerated and, in fact, surreal manner by enterprises themselves. However, it has also unveiled significant challenges: social and economic inequalities, the post-truth era, savage capitalism and, as Byung-Chul Han aptly identifies, "the burnout society".[3]

This project commenced with personal introspection as a Corporate Human, where I questioned why I chose to become and remain a Corporate Human. What sort of dissonance has this choice caused? During this first phase of the project I primarily worked on self-portraiture, as well as documenting the daily life of a Corporate Human working from home.

In the subsequent phase, I have gained access to photograph, interview, and document other Corporate Humans working for the same company.

There, I realised that Corporate Humans are not merely defined by sales, marketing, profit generation, market accumulation and what tends to be defined as a "success". Instead, the project Corporate Human is full of stories of humanity; individual journeys in often trans-generational context amid obstacles and frustrations. The narratives of persevering prevail.

Over the last six years, I have encountered individuals engaged in tireless efforts seeking social change and a more equitable society.

The Corporate Human shares stories of ambiguity. On the one hand, there are efforts to contribute to societal improvement and the urgency of changing our ways of living to achieve a sustainable modus vivendi. On the other, the ambiguity lies in the systemic game we "must" play, where hyper-productivity has dominated community participation, the engine of collective change.

In this exhibition, I aim to celebrate the diversity of the Corporate Human through portraits that empower.

I genuinely hope that these portraits reflect the voices of those Corporate Humans who contribute to and transform their communities.

[1] Moctezuma’s text translated from Spanish, reviewed and copy-edited by Gosia Polanska (Mojek).

[2] Two of the most notable works on this subject are the photographic work of Chauncey Hare and the documentary photographic work of Doug Menuez, who had access to photograph the inner workings of Silicon Valley from 1985 to 2000. This work can be seen in the book "Fearless Genius."

[3] Byung-Chul Han, 2015, The Burnout Society