Growing Poppies explores poppy cultivation in the mountainous areas of Mexico as a response to climate change, poverty and weak government support. These areas have been affected by drought, soil exhaustion and unstable weather conditions, causing traditional crops like corn to fail. For many Mexican farmers, growing opium has become one of the few ways of survival, putting farmers in constant danger as this plant is deeply linked to violence, military eradication and cartels.

This project focuses on the theme of critical refusal to shift the focus away from narco-trafficking, crime and violence in Mexico toward the social and environmental issues of the flower. Rather than treating the poppy flower as a symbol of crime, it is presented as a fragile crop shaped by climate change and limited opportunities. An archival image by César Rodríguez of a girl standing in an opium field is printed using the cyanotype process and toned with tea made from dried poppy petals.

The image sits in a dark wooden frame that visually boxes the landscape, reflecting how farmers are often trapped by their limited opportunities and poor living conditions. The heavy, dark frame and the smaller, delicate printed photograph reflect of how farmers are forced to care for the fragile flower for survival. The image portraying the young girl reminds us that these landscapes are not criminal sites, but places where families are trying their best to live with dignity in an unstable environment that has not offered them many choices.