Capturing crisis: Mexico's water woes through Jérôme Sessini's lens

The impact of photography goes beyond creating beautiful images. A camera enables you to tell stories, share messages and advocate for change. Photojournalist and Canon Ambassador Jérôme Sessini does exactly this through his work.

For more than two decades, the French documentary photographer has journeyed across continents, capturing human experiences – the good, the bad and the harsh realities. His passion for visual storytelling and history has taken him to places like Syria, the US-Mexico border and Lebanon, documenting some of the most significant global events of our time.

Since 2012, Jérôme has been a member of Magnum Photos, a prestigious collective known for its commitment to documentary photography, capturing pivotal moments in history through evocative images.

His latest project has taken him back to Central America, covering the intricacies of the ongoing Mexico water crisis. Jérôme's pictures and video not only formed an exhibition as part of the Valencia Photo Festival until early 2025, but through Magnum, was also published in an in-depth report, The Last Drops of Mexico City, in collaboration with Rodrigo Cervantes on Long Lead.

Mexico City is one of the biggest cities in the world; its water crisis is among its biggest challenges. Jérôme’s long-standing interest in the culture and lifestyle of Mexico is what first drew his attention to this issue and inspired him to capture the people and their experiences there.

Jérôme first went to Mexico in the mid 1990s, and it was there he decided to become a photographer. He met his wife there in 2001, and returned more than 20 times over the next decade. In 2008-2011 he documented the political situation and drug-related violence in the country, culminating in his 2012 book The Wrong Side: Living on the Mexican Border.

In 2019, he took part in the Magnum Retold project, which celebrated the agency's 70th anniversary by inviting present-day Magnum photographers to revisit their predecessors' work, and chose to reimagine Henri Cartier-Bresson's Mexico series. Using a Canon EOS R and, in contrast to his conflict photography, working in black and white, Jérôme set out to capture the character of Mexico City, its ordinary life, unchanging places and religious practices, and also boxing – "I've always been fascinated by boxing, especially in Mexico because it's like a religion," he says.

“Mexico has struggled with a lot of problems," Jérôme says. "Violence, poverty, overpopulation. Now they face the water problem. It’s a very complicated country.”

Mexico City’s reliance on its underground aquifer, which provides 60% of its water,  is strained by overwhelming demand, increased by rapid urbanisation and population growth. Water is generally pumped long distances, but infrastructure failures mean almost 40% is lost through leaks. Much of the country has a semi-arid to desert climate, and climate change also affects the supply, with more frequent droughts and extreme temperatures.

In environments where tensions may be high and people are dealing with difficult circumstances, photographers like Jérôme must be careful not to overstep. It’s essential to respect the locals’ space, which often means working from a distance rather than up close. This kind of work, Jérôme says, requires a camera capable of capturing fine details even from afar. He finds that his Canon EOS R5 handles the task well.

“It’s a compact camera with high resolution. It’s a perfect tool for me.”

In low-light conditions, he favours a Canon RF 35mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM lens, though his usual choice is the RF 24-105mm F4L IS USM, which suits his style of photography and minimises the need to change lenses.

Canon equipment has been essential to Jérôme's work throughout his career.

“Canon cameras are reliable, compact, fast and light,” he says. For him, when photographing real people in real situations, it’s crucial to have a camera that performs with both speed and precision.

Jérôme emphasises the importance of being as "accurate to reality" as possible. As a result, he takes a minimalist approach to post-production, striving to stay as close as possible to the scene he captured by editing his work sparingly.

When situations allowed, Jérôme also captured video, taking advantage of the EOS R5's hybrid capability – like its successor, the EOS R5 Mark II, the camera is designed for shooting video as well as stills.

"When I am focusing on a photo essay, it's difficult to switch to thinking in video terms, but when you switch, your creativity can rise," he says.

"I like to mix the two, to try to build a narrative with both still images and video. It brings a rhythm, and video can add to the audience's understanding of the story. I believe it brings the subject closer to the audience."

For this project, Jérôme explains, “I filmed landscapes in colour to create a narrative with the black and white stills. Most were shot on a tripod, with no camera movement – the only motion is the water."

Drawing on his extensive experience documenting major world events, Jérôme provides a compelling answer to this question. For him, raising awareness goes beyond the images themselves. Rather, he says it’s about being present on the ground, engaging with those living the reality and witnessing their experiences first-hand.

“Photography is simply the medium,” he says. “Your medium could be photography, could be video, could be writing or art. What is important is that we have people in the field.”

Creating change begins with awareness, which starts with having people willing to tell those stories, or else they go untold. Through photography, these stories are told – but more importantly, the people they affect are given a voice.

“As long as people are not aware of something, nothing can change. You know, sometimes change is very slow, but at least people are aware. And that's the first step for every and any change: to make people aware.

“We need to be a link between the reality of the world and the audience. It's very important not to fall into producing very journalistic and factual work, because you won't have any emotion. To convey emotion is part of my work. One of the main focuses is to keep this balance.”

Jérôme's first piece of advice would be to believe in the story you want to tell. Documenting events in a foreign country is a significant challenge, demanding thorough research and extensive preparation.

“It's important to be a good photographer but also to be a good journalist. Be well documented. Read the newspaper, watch videos, know about the geopolitics of the country, and then just go and keep believing in the story. It’s difficult, but focus on your own vision, and the reason that made you choose that story,” he advises.

Equally important is having equipment you can rely on. For Jérôme, his trusted Canon gear has been instrumental to his success.

“I know I can totally rely on the Canon camera. From focus to quality, it’s reliable.”

Looking ahead, Jérôme plans to continue documenting water crises in regions such as the Middle East, Africa and Europe. He also hopes to explore the boxing culture in Mexico, a subject close to his heart.