Matías Costa – Zonians

During almost one hundred years thousands of Americans lived comfortably in peaceful tropical communities on the banks of the Panama Canal. Known as Zonians, they dealt with the maintenance of one of the largest engineering works of the world, until 1999 when the Canal was given back to Panama. Since then the Zonians meet annually in Florida in order to recall their lost paradise, being aware that once they have disappeared, their community will be lost forever.

In 1999, the inhabitants of the Panama Canal Zone, known as the Zonians, were stripped of their privileges when their land ceased to be a North American territory. Today, some are returning home. These images, taken between 2011 and 2014 in the Panama Canal and Orlando, follow the last moments of their existence as a community.