Khan Academy Static

Video Title : Traces of illegal migration in Mexico: Mark Ruwedel

Video Description : This video brought to you by Tate.org.uk In photographer Mark Ruwedel’s Crossing (2005), we come across a landscape littered with strange and incongruous objects: inner tubes, water bottles, passports, and single shoes are scattered across the desert that stretches over the border between Mexico and Southern California. While we don’t see the players in the drama Ruwedel has documented, his photographs reveal the traces they have left behind, both banal and poignant, as the attempt to cross an invisible line in the desert while escaping detection. Ruwedel walked miles along the US-Mexico border and photographed every object he came across in order to tell the story of undocumented migrants attempting to cross the border in secret. As Ruwedel puts it, his photographs deal with “forensic evidence as it is embedded in a landscape that speaks of human histories." What purpose do you think Ruwedel’s photographs serve? Are they merely documenting evidence, or telling more complex stories?

Video ID : x4ff79b24