Hubert Hayaud, Run & Drive
Run & Drive refers to vehicles that have been accidented and declared total losses by American insurance companies. Thousands of drivers seek out these wrecks in the United States to bring them back—by road—to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, where they are repaired and resold. Photographer Hubert Hayaud joined convoys of these transmigrant drivers known as Mancuerneros—from the Spanish mancuerna, meaning dumbbell, a reference to the cars being towed in pairs. Hayaud followed these men through a post-industrial, western-like journey marked by long waits, endless roads, corrupt police, and resourcefulness. This exhibition presents the result of an in-depth, long-term project.
About the artist
Hubert Hayaud’s documentary work investigates the themes of borders, territories, and migration. His reports (Refugee Economics, El País, and The Guardian – The Great Relocation, GEO) document the movement of people forced to leave their homes due to conflict or natural disaster. By telling the stories of these displaced individuals, his photographs reveal the socio-economic conditions they face and the power dynamics at play in the regions concerned (Canada, Brazil, Kenya). Alongside his portrait work for the press, he has spent nearly a decade developing a long-term project across North America, following transmigrant drivers. In addition to photography, he also works as a film editor on both documentary and fiction feature films. Fascinated by the storytelling potential of images, he co-directed the archive-based documentary The Man I Left Behind with producer Matthieu Rytz and photographer Larry Towell.