Maria Zavala, 37, has never had a family album.
The Honduran mother of three has hundreds of images on her phone. But until recently, she had never held a printed photograph of her family, something she could revisit, pass around or keep as a record.
Last fall, using disposable cameras, Zavala and her children began documenting small, intimate moments that felt more intentional and worth preserving.
Since arriving in the United States in 2023, these are their first printed memories of the life they’ve built here.
“Photography is a way to tell your own story,” Zavala said. “To go back in time — when you look at the photo, it’s something really beautiful.”
The Zavala family is one of two featured in Aquí Estamos, a visual storytelling project that invites families to document their own lives using disposable cameras.
Building a life, one image at a time
Earlier this year, the Zavala family moved into an affordable housing unit in Bayview. For the first time, their children have their own beds. Their kitchen table is filled with cereal, fruit and snacks, and they now have access to a washing machine.
Even with that stability, Zavala is still settling in.
She cares for her 8 year old daughter, Samara, who has undergone multiple spinal surgeries for a rare inflammatory disorder affecting her nervous system.
Much of the past year has been spent at the children’s hospital in Oakland, organizing press conferences and speaking at City Hall.
Some of the photographs were taken before Samara’s most recent surgeries. In one image, Samara stretches her foot onto her father’s face as they lie in bed. The moment reflects a quiet sense of care and trust.
The cameras moved between family members, each deciding what moments felt important enough to document.
“Everyone has their own story,” Zavala said. “My story as an immigrant, and having the opportunity to help others or confront issues, I’ll do it being me.”
Motherhood, memory and life in an RV
When Mariela Vargas, 34, gave birth to her son last year, she and her husband were living in an RV at Candlestick’s RV Park.
After the site closed, the family moved between locations in Bayview, joining a close community of RV residents, many of them immigrant families navigating rising rents and increased enforcement of vehicle parking rules.
Through the disposable cameras, Vargas and her husband, Macilis, documented the early months of their son’s life.
For Vargas, photographing her child carried emotional weight. She had previously experienced a miscarriage and, at one point, did not think she would try again.
“It was very difficult to process,” she said. “I no longer wanted to have a baby after losing my first child. But thank God, I’m a mother now.”
The project also brought back earlier memories.
When Vargas was 12 and living in Guatemala, her father would take photos of her at the park and mail the prints to her mother in the United States. Years later, after Vargas joined her mother in the Bay Area at 15, the direction of those photographs reversed.
“I remember my mom used to take me to the park and take photos of me with disposable cameras,” Vargas said. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen or used those cameras.”
Recently, Vargas and her family moved into an apartment in Daly City and sold the RV.
Still, she holds onto what that period of her life represents.
“Now I have memories of my child,” she said. “It’s been a beautiful experience, a little frustrating too, but being able to remember the people we met here makes it special.”
Similarly, Zavala says the images give her something she never had before.
“These are the first photos we have together as a family,” she said. “To finally have what we fought for, security and stability, I can’t express it in words.”
