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a project by George Kimmerling, 2002
National Monument, AZ"; "31°20'03"N 109°49'09" W-Border Patrol
Mobile Watchtower, Border Rd., AZ" C-prints 24x20"
"Migration Atlas" investigates the contested landscape of the Arizona desert near the U.S. - Mexico border. Many people cross into the U.S. here illegally, on foot or bicycle, and dozens perish each year in the effort. The photographs depict personal objects migrants have left in the desert, as well as structures placed in the landscape by Border Patrol and pro-migrant groups. I also photographed the views overhead and around the objects, and with a GPS device, I recorded the latitude, longitude and elevation of the objects.
The project highlights part of the material experience of this type of crossing into the U.S. and reveals the extended border area as one that is both transitional and transnational. It also focuses inquiry into landscapes as discursive, historical and geographic spaces, while questioning political and cultural notions of borders and border crossings. Pursuing these issues seems critical now, with talk of homeland security, border patrol, the surveillance of "foreigners" so much in the foreground.
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