Never has our country been more divided than on the issue of immigration. The debate over construction of a wall to secure the border with Mexico tops the headlines. The border passes through mountains, hills, desert, plains, rivers, canals, sand dunes, cities, and oceans. Every day, US Border Patrol agents risk their lives to serve us, spending their days in isolation, treacherous terrain, and extreme weather. This photography project chronicles the fence, the culture, and the people as I encountered them while on an eleven-day journey with my family along most of the 1,900 miles of the US-Mexican land border. Agents were kind to share their views on border security and the everyday challenges they face. Residents provided insight into their daily routines and their perspective on the border. As they shared inspiring and heartbreaking stories, I got a sense of the drug situation firsthand, hearing it from the people whose lives have been affected the most. As I listened, the impact the border has on citizens, residents, immigrants, and federal agents began to unfold.
In December of 2017, I explored the border between North and South Korea with my dad and visited the DMZ, the Joint Security Area, the tunnel that North Korea dug to invade the South, and had a first hand view of the areas hit by the Korean War near the DMZ. The North Korean settlements just across the border gave me a sense of North Korean culture and people. The DMZ train and my discussions with the South Korean people led me to believe that peace is what's most important to Korean people.
Summer of 2018, Ashna and I traveled the borders of Israel with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Gaza. Amazing stories were told by residents of West Bank and Israel. To see the rockets fired by Gaza militants was nerve wracking. The humanitarian crisis along the borders seemed overwhelming. Hatred and tension between some Israeli and Palestines could be felt during Hebron visit. However, it was great to see people of many religions living in harmony in the old city of Jerusalem.
The journey continued along the beautiful Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the African continent where I got a pulse on immigration issues between Spain and Morocco. Later, I was able to reconstruct the Berlin Wall in Germany through the medium of photography.
I am a rising freshman at St. Mark’s School of Texas, and reside in Dallas with my parents, younger sister (Ashna), and dog (Ricky). I love reading, traveling, meeting new people, playing ping pong with my sister, and competing in local tennis tournaments. Science is my favorite subject and I am intrigued by dominance and recessiveness in genetics. I love photography and have a large collection of photos shot along the various borders I've visited, thanks to the mentoring and assistance from my parents and sister every step of the way. These days, I have been actively engaged in public speaking at TEDx Plano, Dallas Round Tables, Toast Master Int club, parks, cafe's, teen leadership programs, doctor offices, senior centers, civic clubs etc., educating citizens on border issues and taking questions surrounding this topic of national interest. AddisonArt Program has curated an exhibition on three world borders at the Addison Conference Center Feb 2019.
