I have been photographing artists in some of the world's presumably most dangerous cities along the US Mexican border since 2008.
My goal is to show the positive and vibrant cultural side of a border that the international media usually only reports on when violent crimes are committed.
So far I have visited and photographed over 150 artists along the border in Matamoros, Reynosas, Nuevo Laredo, Cd Juarez, Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali. I also met with artists on the US side in Brownsville, McAllen and El Paso.
They contribute greatly to positive changes in cities that are often held hostage by violent circumstances.
I financed the first stages of the project myself; in 2012 I was awarded a grant from German Kulturstiftung Bild & Kunst and started an online fundraiser on Indiegogo; both funds made the continuation of the work possible in 2012 and Jan/Feb 2013. But more is needed.
The editing process, the building of a large website ( http://borderartists.com ), preparations for magazine stories and exhibitions take a lot of time that is lost working on paid assignments.
More visits to the border may be necessary to shoot additional material and video interviews for an online presentation.
About 80 of my images form LA FRONTERA were shown at the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington DC until March 2nd. Please contact me for more information: stefanfalke@mac.com or call (+1) 917 - 214 9029 and see images under La Frontera on this website.
Thank you for taking the time, Stefan Falke