Borderlands

Dates

2017 - Ongoing
Author

Francesco Anselmi
Recognition

Main Prize Honourable Mentions - PhMuseum 2020 Photography Grant

In the history of the human species one of the key factors in determining the evolution of peoples has been the presence of geographical barriers between populations. Mountains, oceans and deserts limited the sharing of knowledge and technology, slowing the progress of certain areas of the world over others. That same history saw men seeking solutions to overcome those natural barriers and at the same time building artificial ones: walls to defend ourselves from whom we identify as enemy, from whom might weaken us and undermine our identity.

After thousands of years, these two thrusts -of research for progress and conservation- they are unchanged. 

Under a wall at the center of political debate, who they are, what they live and what they choose the true protagonists of a no men's land.

© Francesco Anselmi - Image from the Borderlands photography project

15th birghday at Colonia La Penita. Colonias are extremely poor communities of Mexican migrants which are born along the border between Texas and Mexico. In these communities the majority of people entered the US illegally and is still without regular papers. La Joya, Texas. April 2017.

The wall dividing the US and Mexico near Nogales. Arizona. May, 2017.

Felipe and Maria with their son David at Colonia La Penita. Felipe and Maria illegally entered the United States. David, 2 years old, is a US citizen. La Joya, Texas. April, 2017.

Christmas decorations. Maricopa, Arizona. December 2017.

Celebrating one month of pregnancy. TijuanaSan Dego border. Mexico. december 2017.

Laine Lawless, right-wing activist, is the leader of the group Border Guardians, a civil militia patrolling the border in order to secure it from smugglers. In the picture she is posing with her assault rifle in her living room. At her feet, the Mexican flag. Phoenix, Arizona. April, 2017.

An aero-balloon remotly controlled by the Federal Border Patrol to intercept the traffick of drugs and human beings along the border between Mexico and Texas. Equipped with infrared cameras these devices can see at a distance of up to 200 kilometers. Roma, Texas. April, 2017.

Santos, 23, soldier of the gang marasalvatrucha 13, posing in he house of a fellow gangmember. Mara13 is currently the point of reference of Mexican cartels for the distribution of drugs in the States. Santos has been recently released after two years spent in prison for a crime he did not commit. As a matter of fact, it is practice for youth to turn themselves instead of a more important member of the gang. El Paso, Texas. May, 2017.

Church, Casagrande, Arizona. April 2017.

Tim Foley, also known as "The nailer", checking the surroundings of his house during a portrait session. Foley is the founder and leader of the Arizona Border Recon civil militia, aiming to fight cartel's activity in the area south of Tucson and Phoenix. Arivaca, Arizona. December 2019.

Gabriel, 24 years old, with his aunt Marilena, 42 years old. I encountered Gabriel and Marilena while driving on a smuggling road between the US border with Mexico and the town of Arivaca, Arizona. Gabriel and Marilena were severely dehidrated and couldnt move anymore after walking several hours in the desert. They claimed to be part of a group of 8 people that was abandoned by a smuggler in the Sonoran desert. Arivaca, Arizona. May 2017.,

Glenn Spencer, 81, setting up one of his drones. Mr Spencer's property confines with the Mexican border and his land is often crossed by smugglers. He is developing a technology based on underground sensors capable to send a signal to drones that automatically take off and fly on location to identify the trespassers. Mr Spencer technology is apparently beeing considered by the Trump's administration as one of the possible solution to border related issues. Sierra Vista, Arizona, November 2017.

A girl poses showing off a swastika tattooed on her chest at the national meeting between the US National Socialist Party and the Ku Klux Klan in Pikeville, Kentucky, where I travelled following the NSM delegation from Arizona. Border related issues are currently on top of the nationalists movements agenda. April, 2017.

Environmental activists from Tucson demonstrating against the damages that the consruction of a new section of wall will cause to the local fauna. Lukeville, Arizona. November 2019.

Leilani, 9yrs old, in the barns ran by her mother. La Joya, Texas. October 2019.

A family at a Native celebrations rodeo in Maricopa, Arizona. December 2017.

Beauty peagent contest at theTohono O'Odham native reservation. The Tohono O'Odham reservation is located in the Sonoran desert, along the border with Mexico and has been accused of cooperating in human and drug smuggling. with the Mexican cartels. The growing tension between federal authorities and the Native community brought to the creation of two permanent checkpoints to access and exit the natives lands.Arizona, USA. December 2018.

OK Corral gunfight rehearsal happening three times a day all year long. Tombstone, Arizona. November 2017.

Melody, 15 years old, in the San Ysidro's motel where she lives with her mother Teodora and her brothers. Teodora ran away because of domestic violence. San Diego, California. April, 2017.

Christofer Harris, former Federal Border Patrol agent and current leader of the Border Patrol Union of the San Diego district, with his wife Norma, in the house where they live in San Diego. Norma migrated to the US from Mexico as a three yrs old child with her family. Christofer retired in 2006 after he was hit on his head by a migrant that threw rocks at him while illegally crossing the border. The injury led him to several amnesias and long periods of depression. San Diego. USA. December 2018.

Borderlands

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