Sleepless and haunted by the grisly scenes he often photographs, Mexican photojournalist Jorge Luis Plata is concerned about the spirits of his dead subjects:
When I arrive at a crime scene I have to show respect for the dead, for the Great Spirit that is inside every person as my grandmother taught me. Even people who are killers, drug dealers, pimps, abusive and violent themselves have a Great Spirit and if their life is taken in a brutal way, their Great Spirit finds no peace and has nowhere else to go but into someone else’s living body. My way of showing respect is to say a little prayer before taking pictures. I tell the dead that I’ve come in good faith and that I’m not there to harm or disturb them. Whenever I have a chance, I light a candle or take a bunch of flowers to a church afterwards in gratitude that I’ve been able to do those pictures without being harmed.
The Dish 