In his book Border Documents, the photographer and writer draws on his father’s anecdotes and his own images to challenge preconceptions of the Mexico-US border
“Every first kiss had to happen somewhere,” reflects photographer and writer Arturo Soto. “Mapping memory onto geography is something we all do constantly, albeit in intangible ways. I want to create a body of work that highlights the emotional dimension of urban environments.”
With his latest book, Border Documents, Soto pairs his father’s recollections of life on the US-Mexico border with his own images of neighbouring cities Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. Part memoir, part political study, it’s a disarmingly profound work that asks what happens when personal stories are laid against one of the world’s most contested frontiers.
The book’s origins lie in the stories Soto grew up hearing at home. His father’s repertoire of anecdotes – some comic, some harrowing, all steeped in the texture of border life – formed the foundation of the project. But turning oral tradition into written text was not a straightforward task. “I had heard most of the stories since I was little,” Soto recalls. “The first step was to identify those that had a personal, sociopolitical and spatial dimension.”
Passport photos from Border Documents; All images © Arturo Soto/The Eriskay Connection
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