Bird in Flight Prize ‘20 Finalist: Blind River

Alex Turner, USA

Seasonal rainfall carves through the US/Mexico borderlands. The rains end and the water evaporates, yet these channels occupy strata both visible and invisible. Currents rearrange themselves and flow below ground, less susceptible to changes above. Humans and wildlife move through this region similarly, forming a complex network of fluctuating corridors across two countries. Political, economic, and environmental forces require them to adapt; their movements are fleeting and mostly hidden. Scientists and government agencies observe and analyze these passageways from afar. Their intentions vary, yet their tactics and data sets often overlap and mirror each other. Despite tools of enhanced vision, their capacity to see and understand is clouded by layers of detachment. Combining remote sensing imagery with landscape photographs, I collapse intimate and distanced depictions of the border landscape. A river is revealed, suggesting continuous circulation beyond our unaided vision.