Vanishing Borderlands: The Fragile Landscape of the U.S.-Mexico Border

by John Annerino

John Annerino, famed photographer of the Amerian Southwest, portrays the astonishing beauty of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and contrasts those with images of the conflict that threatens to destroy them.
These 1,956 miles through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California on the U.S. side and Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Baja California Norte on Mexico's side are the beautiful, rugged, blood-stained borderlands that once lured conquistadors, missionaries, scalp hunters, bandits, smugglers, pioneers, and colonists from Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Annerino canoed the Río Grande/Río Bravo del Norte through the legendary Big Bend Frontier, walked treacherous immigrant trails like Arizona's Camino del Diablo (Road of the Devil), explored borderlands jaguar country on foot, and came to know the resilient people who live, work, and cling to the traditions on both sides of the border. Along the way he chronicled his perilous journeys through this "geography of chaos," capturing in remarkable photographs and evocative essays the stunning landscapes whose fragile environment is threatened by today's politics.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2008

About the author

Author and photographer John Annerino has been working in the American West and the frontier of Old México for 20 years, documenting its natural beauty, indigenous people, and political upheaval. A veteran contract photographer for the Liaison International and TimePix photo agencies in New York and Paris, and Marka Graphic Photo in Milano, John's photography is archived in the Time-Life Picture Collection and has appeared in scores of prestigious publications worldwide, including Time, LIFE, People, Newsweek, Scientific American, Travel & Leisure, The New York Times, and National Geographic Adventure. His acclaimed collection of distinguished books feature diverse interests, geographies, and cultures, and range from his most cherished photographic essay, Indian Country: Sacred Ground, Native People, to his most heart wrenching book, Dead in Their Tracks. His celebrated single-artist calendars include Desert Light, Inspiration, La Virgen de Guadalupe, and Mayan Long Count Calendar. John's lifetime commitment to publishing illuminates his "passion to document endangered places, peoples, cultures, and traditions."

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is stunning visually. The written description and history of the borderlands is riveting as well. There's important information here about what's happening today that I have not seen elsewhere. It also gives crucial context to the current situation in it's telling of the history of the border area with its long history of violence. This book is solemn, dignified, and beautiful; and it gives the region and its people their due respect and importance.