Once upon a time, I spent about eighteen months living in El Paso. Nowhere I had lived before had prepared me for life on the border, and I quickly learned that until you have spent time in the borderlands, you learn what misconseptions you brought with you. Even after I left, I realized I barely know it all. I had the pleasure of going to Juarez a few times when I lived along the border. People I know look at me with incredulity when I say that. What I saw there were people, just trying to survive and live in a place that had been badly affected by a combination of post-9/11 changes and horrifying cartel violence.
© Matthew P. Crouch Photography