El Salvador

In 1983, at the height of the civil war in El Salvador, thirty international photojournalists covering the conflict contributed to a project to raise awareness about the crisis. Photographers Susan Meiselas and Harry Mattison, who collected the work for a book and traveling exhibition, believed that these images, if more widely seen, could facilitate a deeper understanding of the situation in El Salvador and prompt a crucial dialogue about the conflict and America's role in it.

70 Items
  • "Mano Blanca," signature of the death squads left on the door of a slain peasant organizer, Arcatao, Chalatenango Province
  • Neighborhood known as "La Fosa" (The Grave), San Salvador
  • Streets of Sonsonate
  • Coffee drying farm, Los Ateos
  • Beach resort restaurant, La Libertad
  • Home in Reparto Manuel José Arce neighborhood, San Salvador
  • Private security guard, Colonia Escalon neighborhood, San Salvador
  • Wedding reception in the countryside, Santiago Nonualco
  • Blood of student slain while handing out political leaflets, San Salvador
  • Collecting contributions for families of the "disappeared" in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, San Salvador
  • Downtown San Salvador
  • Mourners wait to pay last respects to youths killed by the National Guard after a street theater performance critical of the government, Rosario Church, San Salvador
  • Writing on coffin of one of the youths killed reads: "I love you, I will never forget you, I will tell my daughter about you when she grows up and can understand," Rosario Church, San Salvador
  • March in celebration of the unification of the popular political organizations, San Salvador
  • National Policeman using ice-cream vendor as a shield during skirmish with demonstrators, San Salvador
  • National Guard arresting members of the popular political organization who had occupied the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) headquarters, San Salvador
  • Confession in the Metropolitan Cathedral, San Salvador
  • Mourners in plaza during funeral mass for Archbishop Romero
  • Crowd in plaza during funeral mass for Archbishop Romero, San Salvador
  • After bomb explosion near cathedral, people try to escape being trampled
  • Member of a popular political organization provides cover for fleeing civilians
  • Interior of cathedral where the dead and wounded have been carried
  • Nuns leaving the cathedral
  • Waiting for the bus on the road to La Libertad
  • Payday at a farm under the administration of the Agrarian Reform
  • Two young girls found alongside the highway to Comalapa Airport
  • Road to Aguilares
  • Las Vueltas, Chalatenango
  • National Guardsman arresting a suspected guerrilla, Chalatenango
  • Families looking for "disappeared" relatives in the "Book of Missing," Human Rights Commission Office, San Salvador
  • El Playon, well-known location where bodies of the "disappeared" are often found, Sonsonate
  • Funeral procession for member of the civil defense, El Triunfo
  • La Virtud Refugee Camp, Honduras
  • Literacy class, San José de la Montaña Refugee Camp, San Salvador
  • Soldiers searching bus passengers
  • Arrest of auto repair mechanic for failure to carry an ID card, San Salvador
  • Students forced to vacate building by security forces during closing of National University, San Salvador
  • Students forced to vacate building by security forces during closing of National University, San Salvador
  • Students killed by security forces, National University, San Salvador
  • Student killed by security forces, National University, San Salvador
  • Female victims of death squad, Apopa
  • Mass for slain Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR) leaders, Metropolitan Cathedral, San Salvador
  • Religious service, Mejicanos
  • Unearthing of three assassinated American nuns and a lay worker from unmarked grave, Santiago Nonualco
  • Trenches dug by guerillas, Cabañas
  • Fabricating explosives in "liberated zone," Chalatenango
  • Field hospital in "liberated zone," Morazán
  • Dance in a guerrilla camp, Chalatenango
  • Building barricades on the coastal highway to prevent army access, Usulután
  • Civilians flee as guerillas burn trucks on the coastal highway, Usulután
  • Army on an operation, Morazán
  • Guerilla defends town of San Lorenzo against National Guard attack as civilians flee
  • Victims of the Mozote massacre, Morazán
  • Portraits of guerillas, Chalatenango
  • Guerrillas retreat after stripping dead soldier for his uniform and rifle, Chalatenango
  • Soldiers under fire, Cabañas
  • Wounded army officer being evacuated by helicopter, Guazapa
  • José Napoleón  Duarte, PDC candidate, campaigning, San Salvador
  • Guerrilla dragged through the streets of Cuscatlancingo the day before elections
  • Voting lines, San Salvador
  • Entrance of the U.S. Embassy, San Salvador
  • U.S. adviser at naval base, La Unión
  • U.S. Special Forces adviser instructs soldiers in use of M-203 grenade launcher, Ilopango
  • Training of civilian militia by guerrillas, Usulután
  • Telephone lines downed by guerrillas, Coastal Highway
  • Mother of dead soldier receiving his coffin, Dolores
  • Mother and daughter killed by government bombing, San Francisco Javier
  • Independence Day military parade, National Stadium, San Salvador
  • Firing range used by U.S.-trained Atlacatl Battalion
  • Cleaning the Presidential Palace, San Salvador