El Paso, TX
31.727472, -106.375972
Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS)
Colter Thomas, May 2023
The predominant conception of the border is that of a sparsely populated desert landscape, dotted with cacti and sand dunes. While large swaths of the border fit this description, there are also hundreds of miles of densely populated landscapes with communities ripped apart by a militarized border policy. Relics still remain of a time when the two lands existed as one. Surveillance cameras instead capture a new reality, where the border has become a living tapestry of division and control, documenting the ongoing transformation of a once seamless landscape into a fragmented and closely monitored frontier.
Below: 2024- RVSS (the border is seen on the far left)
Below: 2002 - RVSS (oldest confirmable satellite imagery)
Below: 1996 - Before installation
Below: Street view from 2007 - RVSS
