Dust Party follows an imaginary journey by car and foot, starting from the desert regions in Mexico and continuing along the border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali. Then, it crosses over »the most secured border of the world«, the Mojave Desert regions of the United States, and it goes onto the big dreams and social deserts of Los Angeles. It ends at the natural and mythologized desert of the US-American West, Death Valley.

The work looks at the physical border between two countries while also seeing borders between center and periphery, culture and nature, and their mixtures. I wanted to photograph the natural geographies of the concrete locations as well as visualize the background of projections, »Wunschbilder«, ideals and longings connected with themes of borders, migration, poverty and affluence. I was also interested in the visual–psychological–geographies and the media–landscapes which influence our perceptions on both sides of borders and divides.

Borders are mostly our projections and constructions; without them, they wouldn’t exist. As they are imaginary, they can be reimagined, just as the social and psychological limitations can always be reimagined too. All but two photos in this selection are photographed in a documentary way: The arrest scene is staged with three actors. One homeless portrait is reenacted — we met several days to take pictures in Downtown Los Angeles.