Gift of John Andrew MacMahon '95

In 2007, Arizona-based artist David Taylor began photographing the US-Mexico border, and in 2008, a Guggenheim Fellowship helped support the work. Initially, Taylor set out to document the 276 obelisks installed by the International Boundary Commission from El Paso/Juarez to San Diego/Tijuana following the Mexican-American War between the years 1892 and 1895. While documenting the monuments, he gained access to U.S. Border Patrol facilities, agents, and routine operations, allowing him to expand the scope of his project.

This photograph is from Taylor’s Working the Line series. Taylor’s images explore the complex nature of politics, geography, and human interactions over a seven-year period in a stretch of land more than 690 miles long.