As people step into the Richland Library's new exhibit, they should be prepared to see a vivid collection of photographs that capture the people and the wildlife that reside among the U.S.-Mexico border. The imagery will uncover the true nature of the border, challenging preconceived notions about the region.
The Richland Library is showcasing the work of 13 photographers in its latest exhibition, Continental Divide: Wildlife, People and the Border Wall, on Oct. 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
This exhibit is inviting audience members to reflect on the wildlife and the communities along the U.S.-Mexico border and to see these borderlands as a region of connection between cultures with a lively ecosystem, instead of a place of division. The art exhibit showcases 30 large canvas photo prints that capture the ecosystems and communities along the 2000-mile border. The photographers embarked on a nearly month- long journey to document the varied culture and wildlife.
Krista Schlyer is the curator of the exhibit as well as a contributing photographer, she joined the International League of Conservation Photographers in 2007. She gathered photographers to scout of locations, meet with people willing to house them on the boarder, and decide the topics that would be covered. Finally, in 2009, all 13 photographers traveled to the board to document the stories of the land, wildlife and its inhabitants.
The core of the operation was to send photographers to a place that had some sort of ecological importance and was under threat, which they would then photograph these regions to show the urgency of conservation efforts. Through the resulting exhibit, Schlyer hopes to help people get a broader understanding of the border, as it is a place that can often be misconstrued by the media, she said.
“You know, there are people who live here, and wildlife that depends on this land," Schlyer said. "There’s incredibly rich heritage there. And so that is the part I think that people don’t hear that much about. And so, it’s very easy to make snap decisions about what’s going to happen to this place.”
A screening of Ay Mariposa: Butterflies and Border Walls will also be included in the event. Ay Mariposa tells the story of three people whose lives are disrupted by the plans to create the U.S.-Mexico border, along with the butterflies' struggle to survive in a dwindling habitat. The film will play in the Richland Library theater on the second floor at 6 p.m. Ashely Warthen, the arts coordinator at Richland Library, said she is excited for the film.
“We had our first school group come yesterday and we watched the film beginning to end," Warthen said. "It was good, I'm glad they got a chance to see it.”
The Continental Divide exhibit at Richland Library on Oct. 10, 2024. Pictured is three photographs as part of the collection: an expansive view of the U.S.-Mexico border wall cutting through the desert, a portrait of a young girl with a donkey in the borderlands and a close-up of a jaguar, highlighting the wildlife affected by the border. These images document both the human and environmental impact of the border region.
Schlyer said a lot of the misinformation surrounding the border from the news media comes from individuals that haven't ever been there.
"They don’t know anything about the ecology," Schlyer said. "And there’s something like 100 threatened and endangered species that live on this border. Many of those are completely dependent on migration corridors between United States and Mexico. And so this is not just a human issue, although it is a huge human issue, it’s also a matter of life and death for many wild species.”
USC faculty members also played a role in encouraging students to attend the exhibit to learn about the complexities of the border.
Caroline Nagel is a professor of geography at USC as well as a faculty associate with the Walker Institute of International and Area Studies. The Walker Institute brings together people from different departments and universities that have intersecting interests in international and global issues.
Nagel said she aims to encourage faculty participation in a panel discussion, where they can share their expertise and answer audience questions. As a member of the Walker Institute, she utilized her connection with a colleague, who had also hosted the exhibit, to promote it. Nagel reached out to a group of people within the institute interested in migration, who showed great interest in connecting this exhibit to the University of South Carolina
Nagel said that the border is frequently politicized with overstated rhetoric surrounding the region.
“The border appears in public discourse and public rhetoric as something that is bad and out of control and that needs to be policed and that needs walls built on it," Nagel said. "But I don't think many people have ever been to the boarder, and they don't know what the boarder looks like. They don't know the cultural and ecological richness of the boarder."
Nagel said she acknowledges the fear people have if a territory is left unsecured, but said it is important to be cautious in an approach to solving security issues.
“I think it’s easy to ignore the problems that we create in trying to solve those problems, and so this exhibit tries to give people a sense of the beauty of the border,” Nagel said.
Continental Divide: Wildlife, People and the Border Wall exhibition at the Richland Library is open to anyone, no tickets will be required. Photographs of wildlife and communities will be shown followed by a screening and a discussion with a panel with the creators of the exhibit.