Description
A square of Mesilla Valley earth is staged as a small, contested territory: red soil, scattered stones, and a white flag of surrender rising from a fragile stem. The image speaks to a landscape that has been named and renamed across centuries—Indigenous homeland, Spanish frontier, Mexican territory, disputed borderland, and finally part of the United States after the political reshaping of the Southwest. Here, surrender is not shown as a single event, but as a recurring condition imposed by maps, treaties, surveys, armies, and ownership. The white flag does not resolve the conflict; it marks what is lost when land is claimed by those with the power to declare it theirs. In this miniature scene, the Mesilla Valley becomes both a place and a witness: beautiful, vulnerable, and still carrying the weight of every border drawn across it.
Diorama was handmade by the photographer.
Part of the "Declaración: Objects Of An Unfinished Country" series.
Nikon Z8, NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S
Limited to 10 prints (any size) and 2 artist proofs.