"Valentina" (2023, Cafifornia) by Constance Jaeggi

With Valentina, photographic artist Constance Jaeggi offers a portrait that is both intimate and political. Part of her series Escaramuza, The Poetics of Home, the image situates a young Mexican-American rider within a living tradition that binds together questions of heritage, femininity, and belonging across borders.

Valentina belongs to a larger body of work called Escaramuza, The Poetics of Home, in which I explore the Mexican tradition of Escaramuza—how it persists, transforms, and grows in the United States, and what it means for the identity of its Mexican-American practitioners. I am interested in how this tradition fosters a sense of belonging, especially for young women navigating multiple cultural inheritances.

I met Valentina while photographing a California-based team called Selección IME (Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior). This team was different from most I encountered across the U.S. because it was created specifically to compete in Mexico and required all members to have dual citizenship. The girls were very young—most under fifteen—and many had to go through the process of obtaining Mexican citizenship to participate. I found this profoundly symbolic: reconnecting to their roots through both bureaucracy and sport!

In this image, her direct gaze was essential to me. I wanted a sense of presence and self-possession rather than spectacle. The small detail of the USA medallion also mattered, as the team was officially representing the United States—another layer in this complex identity.

Throughout the project, I was fascinated by how Escaramuza connects to the history of the Mexican Revolution and the figure of the soldadera. Valentina’s name resonated with this history, recalling Valentina Ramírez Avitia, “La Leona de Norotal,” who disguised herself as a man to fight and later became a symbol of female courage. This link between past and present felt important to carry into the portrait.

I always photographed the women in their traditional attire: the Adelita dress, named after another famous soldadera. These dresses are handmade in Mexico, heavily layered, and governed by strict rules. Many women told me they feel powerful wearing them—one even compared it to a Superman cape. To me, the dress embodies both expected femininity and quiet defiance.

I chose to work in color film rather than black and white because I felt this work needed to honor color and avoid romanticization. I also decided to photograph teams on their family ranches rather than at competitions. With Valentina’s team, we worked in an intimate setting: they rode, practiced patterns, danced together, and spoke about their experiences. This closeness allowed me to sense their strong sisterhood and mutual trust.

Through Valentina, I hope to reveal how tradition, identity, and history converge in a single young woman—how the past lives in the present, and how belonging can be both fragile and powerful.