These are two of my favorite photos of the border in Playas de Tijuana. I took them in 2008 and they are already history, the new double (!) high security fence replaced tis one last year.

For my current long term project LA FRONTERA I am traveling the entire length of the US Mexican border to photograph artists and other creative people in order to show the vibrant cultural activities in a region which is portrayed by the international media mostly with the sole focus on violence.

While turf wars amongst drug cartels, arms trafficking and rampant kidnappings turned border cities like Ciudad Juarez into some of the most dangerous places on earth, Tijuana in Baja California is recently making a come-back where the amazing art and food culture seems to play an important role in (again) attracting visitors from Mexico and the US alike.

So far I have photographed about 130 artists on the Mexican side of the border in Matamoros, Reynosas, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali. I also photographed artists on the US side in Brownsville, McAllen and El Paso. (The project is on-going, these images were taken in 2012)