The boarder film project

I watched a doco on the nat geo channel the other night about boarder crossing in america.... and it reminded me of this amazing operation called the boarder film project that hands out disposable cameras to both the guards and the mexicans trying to cross the boarder... its such a amazing snap shot at life....

While I only registered to vote at the age of 26 I am somewhat into Politics.... I know I know you are not supposed to talk politics or religion with friends or family... but your not supposed to wear white after labor day and people do that anyway....

Don't worry - I'm not into politics in a heavy kind of way but I do like to keep track of Palins latest media blunder, be shocked at Americas sudden turn on Obama - acording to The New York Times he has the lowest approval rate (among white Americans) after his first year in office than any president before him) Here in Australia I was all for Gillard running our country while kevy is away, but now that she has swiped his job I'm not too sure about her! I whole heartily dig Australia's plea to stop the whaling, I vote green, don't use plastic bags etc etc etc so why not turn this blog into a political platform... if only for just one post...

Who said creativity and politics had to be mutually exclusive? Your either left brained or right brained? Clearly the dudes behind the boarder film project are a little bit of both. And just what is the boarder film project?

Well.... It's a collaborative art project that hands out disposable cameras to two groups on different sides of the border: undocumented migrants crossing the desert into the United States, and American Minutemen trying to stop them. How fucking crazy is that!

To date, 73 cameras have been handed out — 38 to migrants and 35 to Minutemen — with nearly 2,000 pictures in total. These pictures are utterly amazing as they show the human face of immigration.... not the sensationalised picture that is painted for us by the media. These are REAL people, some struggling to live, others struggling to do their jobs... Its a heartbreaking reality that each of us could learn something from just by observing the beautiful photos produced from a somewhat juxtaposed way of life...

I just wrote two more rather large paragraphs and deleted them before this turns into the longest post in the history of posting. I'll just let the contrast between the shots above speak for themselves. 1 man guards the boarder just trying to do his job while another, Javier departs Mexico for Las Vegas - on foot! To learn more about this project, and i highly recommend you do - click here to be taken to the boarder film about page and here to read a story on its founders... Oh and you'll find 100's more amazing photos by clicking here. Let me know what you think.