Victoria Sambunaris (who photographed Frank Sinatra's house for us back in W*115) continues on her journey to produce thought-provoking photographs that document the geography of a changing American landscape. Her latest series: a study on the intersection between land and civilisation, 'The Border' series is the result of her two year 20,000 mile toil over the US-Mexican border area.
Driving and camping her way through terrain between Texas' Big Ben and San Diego, the rugged course led her to the geological delights of sites such as Rio Grande River, Big Bend National Park, and the 18-ft-high border fence which runs past border towns such as El Paso, Texas.
The places themselves are jaw-droppingly vast, and Sambunaris' treatment of this is skillfull, if not powerful - no mean feat, if you consider the all too real threat of grizzly bears, rattlesnakes, and other such questionable encounters.
This relentless pursuit of wanting to show the landscape for what it is, is Sambunaris' oevre, and one she does like no other. 'Borders', like her other work, doesn't look to carry a political message (despite what photographing border state landscapes would imply), but simply looks to create a neutral stance, and tries to resolve the question of how human development has reflected in the landscape.
Shot in film, the large-scale pieces (we are talking 39 x 55 inches of C-type prints here), are stirring and compelling, and a true consideration of the geographical and psychological barrier that the border carries.
ADDRESS
Yancey Richardson Gallery
535 West 22nd Street
3rd floor
New York
NY 10011
-
Waiting for Ideas have recast the turntable as a minimal aluminium altar for vinyl worshipThe PP-1 turntable is an ultra-minimal, all-aluminium record player designed to enhance the vinyl experience
-
Fendi celebrates 100 years with an all-out runway show at its new Milan HQIn the wake of Kim Jones’ departure, Silvia Venturini Fendi took the reins for a special co-ed A/W 2025 collection marking the house’s centenary, unveiling it as the first act of celebrations within Fendi’s expansive new headquarters in Milan
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellionThe new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
-
Wim Wenders’ photographs of moody Americana capture the themes in the director’s iconic films'Driving without a destination is my greatest passion,' says Wenders. whose new exhibition has opened in New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery
-
20 years on, ‘The Gates’ makes a digital return to Central ParkThe 2005 installation ‘The Gates’ by Christo and Jeanne-Claude marks its 20th anniversary with a digital comeback, relived through the lens of your phone
-
In ‘The Last Showgirl’, nostalgia is a drug like any otherGia Coppola takes us to Las Vegas after the party has ended in new film starring Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
-
‘American Photography’: centuries-spanning show reveals timely truthsAt the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Europe’s first major survey of American photography reveals the contradictions and complexities that have long defined this world superpower
-
Miami’s new Museum of Sex is a beacon of open discourseThe Miami outpost of the cult New York destination opened last year, and continues its legacy of presenting and celebrating human sexuality
-
Sundance Film Festival 2025: The films we can't wait to watchSundance Film Festival, which runs 23 January - 2 February, has long been considered a hub of cinematic innovation. These are the ones to watch from this year’s premieres
-
What is RedNote? Inside the social media app drawing American users ahead of the US TikTok banDownloads of the Chinese-owned platform have spiked as US users look for an alternative to TikTok, which faces a ban on national security grounds. What is Rednote, and what are the implications of its ascent?
-
Architecture and the new world: The Brutalist reframes the American dreamBrady Corbet’s third feature film, The Brutalist, demonstrates how violence is a building block for ideology
