The American wall : from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico
Muro de los Estados Unidos : desde el OceŽano PaciŽfico hasta el Golfo de MeŽxico Mur AmeŽricain : de l'OceŽan Pacifique au Golfe du Mexique
/ [photographer and author, Maurice Sherif ; essayists, Charles Bowden ... et al.]
- Paris, France Austin, Tex. : Maurice Sherif ; : University of Texas Press [distributer] , 2011.
- 2 v. : ill. ; 39 cm.
Each language has its own section and title page. A specially commissioned map shows the wall's deviations from the geopolitical border. Book One presents one hundred dramatic photographs of the wall, using the printing technique known as quadratone. Book Two includes thought-provoking essays by authorities on border issues.
Includes bibliographical references.
Since mid-2006, Maurice Sherif has been photographing segments of the U.S.-Mexico border wall from the American side and questioning how the United States--which sees itself as a champion of law, democracy, and human rights--came to engage in such a project. In his words, "the wall is an egregious violation of human rights and a political act with global ramifications for the United States. It is not only a physical symbol, but also a legal example of a national trend toward exceptionalism and exclusion." The American Wall is a photographic record of the wall segments at midday. The photographs, taken in the searing heat of the desert, are stark. They reveal the tactile harshness of the metal structure and the emptiness of its surroundings. The wall repels human activity, and its construction has made barren the surrounding landscape, once rich in biodiversity. In perhaps the final irony of this photographic documentation, the heat of the borderlands melted the film, framing many of the images in random tatters.
Text in English, Spanish and French.
9780292726970
Border security----United States Photography, artistic