It's a bird. It's a plane. No, it's a Mexican! One woman's photography changes the definition and race of superheroes.

DULCE PINZON IS A PHOTOGRAPHER with a clear objective. She wants to challenge what is socially accepted and shift public consciousness.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Her recent series of photographs, The Real Story of the Superheroes, portrays Mexican immigrants at work dressed in the costumes of popular American and Mexican superheroes. Pinzon's work is so timely that audiences may believe the project was conceived after the proposal of new immigration legislation drove immigrants to protest in the streets earlier this year. However the project began germinating after September 11, 2001, when the notion of "hero" was brought to the foreground of public conversations.

Pinzon, who like her subjects hails from Mexico, isn't shy about the intersection of art and politics. At the end of an hour-long interview on her photographs, she comments, "I thought we were going to talk more about politics."

Her faint voice vibrates over the telephone line as she describes the Mexican president's visit to New York City following the destruction of the Twin Towers. Vicente Fox publicly recognized the Mexican women whose husbands died on September 11; his vow was to help the widows as they grieved the loss of "Mexico's heroes." Unfortunately, action did not follow his public statement. Pinzon was again frustrated with the Mexican government's inertia.

It is not a fluke that themes of immigration, race and identity consistently appear in her photographs. Pinzon, who now lives in Queens, New York, came to the United States in 1995 following the worst devaluation of Mexican currency in history. "There were so many limitations," she recalls. She saw many Mexicans lose their life savings.

She arrived in the United States with a student visa to train as a photographer and stayed on with a tourist visa that did not allow her to work. Without proper documentation, she was forced to earn a living as a waitress. She then worked as a labor organizer and an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor for a nonprofit organization before dedicating herself completely to her photography.

While working to help Latinos integrate into mainstream America, Pinzon experienced despair. "New immigrants can be absorbed but not at the current rate," she says. Young, uneducated Mexicans come and accept jobs under terrible conditions. This lowers the standards the labor movement fought to establish, such as the 40-hour work week and minimum wage. But when people have children at home who are crying from hunger, they do what is necessary. She is frustrated with the Mexican administration: "The people in power are stealing at all levels." From this side of the border, "we just have to get rid of Bush. Democrats need to wake up." Both governments must work to regenerate the economy, she says.

Over the course of working to support her passion for photography, Pinzon met many Mexican immigrants whom she now incorporates into her photography. Minerva Valencia, a student in Pinzon's ESL class who works as a daycare provider, posed for the Superhero series. The photo shows her dressed as Catwoman and taking care of two toddlers. Each portrait is accompanied by a caption underneath listing the person's name, where they are from, what kind of work they do and how much money they send to Mexico. Roman Romero, who posed as the Green Lantern, works as a nightwatchman and sends $800 every month to his family, which, according to Pinzon, is the equivalent of a doctor's monthly income in Mexico.

The Mexican economy depends on the money received from its workers in the United States. "The amount of money they send is unbelievable," says Pinzon. Remittances have provided Mexico with more revenue than oil for the past two years. Inversely, the U.S. economy depends on the labor of Mexican immigrants.

Adalberto Lara, who posed as El Chapulin Colorado (The Red Grasshopper), felt that the photograph validated his construction work. A Mexican immigrant in New York City, he sends $350 per week. "He felt recognized," says Pinzon. "People saw the contribution he makes to his family, his community in Mexico and to this country."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Pinzon's desire is to expand her exhibitions beyond big metropolitan cities, such as New York and Miami, where Americans are already exposed to immigrant communities. This year, The Real Story of the Superheroes will show in New York City galleries, but Pinzon is just as enthusiastic about the presentation of her work at the Myers Gallery in Oklahoma next year. She also hopes her series appears in more public spaces similar to San Francisco's La Galeria de La Raza where passersby don't have to pay admission to see Wonder Woman working at a laundry and Human Torch toiling as a cook.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Another goal of Pinzon's is to show the photographs in public schools. Many children are ostracized because of their parents' occupations, she says. Whether they are immigrants or first generation, Pinzon wants them to feel proud of what their parents do and where they come from.

"Comics are part of every child's life, and I want them to have this positive association," she says. Yet she challenges the fictional images of superheroes as white, skinny and handsome. To defy convention, for example, she chose an overweight chauffeur as Batman. "In real life, heroism doesn't have to do with physical appearance."

Since Pinzon began focusing on this project in 2004, her life has changed dramatically. She now works irregular hours as a freelance photographer every single day. The effort at working a day job and doing her art paid off this year with a grant from the U.S. Foundation for the Arts.

Little by little, Pinzon makes new contacts and reaches wider audiences, and she's not discouraged. On the contrary, she believes in the power of her work because it is what she loves to do. "This is what I have to do," she says. "If I don't do it, who will do it?"

Erika Martinez is an M.F.A. candidate at Mills College.

Photos by Dulce Pinzon