Borderline Photography

March 18, 2006 11:44 AM

The Border Film Project. "For three months last summer, three filmmakers with ties to Arizona passed out hundreds of disposable cameras to two groups: [...] undocumented immigrants on the perilous journey to enter the United States and Minuteman volunteers determined to stop them." [article] [previously]
posted by milquetoast (20 comments total)

I should add that the linked-to page is Flash, but the photo pages are HTML.
posted by milquetoast at 11:56 AM on March 18, 2006

also click on the letters in the word "BORDER"

piss poor UI that is.
posted by bitdamaged at 12:34 PM on March 18, 2006

It's an interesting idea in theory, but something about the execution of it left me flat. Maybe they need more photographs so that they can pick out the best ones (although they say they have over 1500), or maybe it would be better to have the same photographer spend time traveling with both groups.

I do come away feeling like I'd rather meet the migrants than the minutemen, but that's probably just my own crap that I'm bringing to the project.
posted by willnot at 1:09 PM on March 18, 2006

Preeeeeeee-tent-ious.

Also, fuck illegal immigrants.
posted by keswick at 1:50 PM on March 18, 2006

This is interesting, thanks.

The migrants certainly have a better sense of composition than the minutemen do.

Also, fuck illegal immigrants.

Interesting...did you look at the pictures? Compare the migrants trying to cross the border, risking life and personal injury, to the minutemen standing around, fat, armed and wrapping themselves in the flag. I'll take that bait and say, "Fuck the minutemen."
posted by contessa at 2:09 PM on March 18, 2006

Ditto keswick.
posted by cribcage at 2:24 PM on March 18, 2006

That's interesting. I like their evenhanded rhetoric (I only read a small portion, though.) Did you hear about the artist giving away designer athletic shoes with built-in survival gear to migrants and then trying to get the shoes to become collectors items in the U.S. so migrants could sell them for cash once they had finished the crossing? (A bit pretentious perhaps but making designer shoes to give to people is better than making designer shoes just for the hell of it.)

I took a class with a journalist who'd worked in Tucson. She said her beat basically became to cover the many people dying in the desert. She was supposed to be doing something else, but there were so many more deaths than usual that year (hot weather came earlier than usual) that the story took over.

Whatever people think of immigration policy, I wish there was more basic concern for people's health. Macroeconomics is one thing, dying of heatstroke in the desert is another. I think I heard the border patrol finally agreed to stop staking out sources of water.
posted by salvia at 2:52 PM on March 18, 2006

While we're at it, fuck the poor, too. And keep the ugly people out of my sight; they disgust me.
posted by 2sheets at 3:46 PM on March 18, 2006

People assisting illegal immigrants are assisting criminals and should prosecuted as such. What's next, a photo project where they pass out cameras to people intending to commit murder?

I have no sympathy for people whose first act in our country is an illegal one.
posted by keswick at 4:19 PM on March 18, 2006

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
posted by bitdamaged at 4:42 PM on March 18, 2006

"Compare the migrants trying to cross the border, risking life and personal injury,"

Right.. in the process of committing a crime. Doing something that they damn well know is a crime, too.

keswick gets my vote too.
posted by drstein at 4:47 PM on March 18, 2006

Did you guys read the 'about us' section?

Talk about a trio of disgustingly intelligent, accomplished young people.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 6:38 PM on March 18, 2006

Also, fuck illegal immigrants.

keswick, You do realize that you can make a case against illegal immigration without resorting to such callous indifference towards other (very vulnerable) human beings, don't you?
posted by a_day_late at 7:20 PM on March 18, 2006

Roughly a quarter-million illegal immigrants per year over that border.

I should think that the only reason it is being allowed to happen is that the federal government believes it is good that it is happening.

I suspect that the "goodness" of it is seen through the eyes of business, looking for dirt-cheap labour.

I can't imagine the people the immigrants are bumping out of the low-paying jobs are all that pleased about it. But, hey, the federal government doesn't exist to support its poorest citizens!
posted by five fresh fish at 7:43 PM on March 18, 2006

I don't know, seems those so-called "minutemen" ought to be packed off to Iraq, where they can enjoy their rush in a more stimulating environment than just hunting the defenseless.

I appreciate the illegals are a problem, although that may be mostly a political problem (except for the risk to their lives). But the self-righteous crap infecting so many Americans, in different ways, has got to stop.
posted by Goofyy at 11:21 PM on March 18, 2006

I should think that the only reason it is being allowed to happen is that the federal government believes it is good that it is happening.

That and the desire to avoid the magically effective (but usually incorrect) label of "racist." Difficult to defend against and potentially lethal for a politician's career.
posted by shoos at 11:55 PM on March 18, 2006

Forget the snarking: this is very very good stuff. Thanks.
posted by .kobayashi. at 3:47 PM on March 19, 2006

Yes, ignore keswick's snarking. This is good.
posted by klausness at 6:10 PM on March 19, 2006

Ditto what BitDamaged said. When France gave us Lady Liberty, it wasn't a trophy. It was a reminder; one we no longer heed.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:04 PM on March 19, 2006

ZachsMind: we already admit 1 million new citizens per year. I'd say we're fulfilling our historic pledge, except that would be engaging in the logical fallacy of an appeal to tradition, and I'd rather not do that.

"towards other (very vulnerable) human beings"
"hunting the defenseless"

Oddly, the "hunting" line is the same the Mexican government uses.

And, illegal aliens considered as a class aren't that vulnerable at all. They have many very powerful defenders, including those who profit off their labor and also those far-left racial power groups that receive funding from the multi-billion dollar Ford Foundation. In fact, their very powerful supporters are quite fond of pointing out just how "vulnerable" illegal aliens are.

Whatever people think of immigration policy, I wish there was more basic concern for people's health.

If illegal aliens knew they stood a 99.99% chance of being caught and would then be immediately deported, almost no one would try to cross the border, right?

OTOH, if illegal aliens knew that they stood a 99.99% chance of not being caught and that they could find work and get services, well, we'd have the current situation, right?

So, those who oppose enforcement of our immigration laws provide the incentives that illegal aliens need to cross. The only way to take away the incentives - and thus decrease the number of border deaths - is to enforce the laws.

There is no other way: if you want to decrease border deaths, you have to enforce our immigration laws across the board: not just at the border but at workplaces as well.
posted by LonewackoDotCom at 10:33 PM on March 19, 2006