Looking at work from PhotoNOLA… Photographer Scott Dalton brings a visual reality to two cities, co-joined by a bridge, economic and historical connections. Brought to light in the news and in the television show, The Bridge, Juárez and El Paso are not cities of equals–they may share a border, but not a quality of life. His
As a photographer I am interested in the often-fragile relationship between people and the places they live, in how individuals, environment, and history combine to create a region with its own culture. In my project ‘So Close, So Far: Daily Life and Cartel Violence in Ciudad Juarez’, I am exploring these ideas through images of daily life in a place where the drug war calls the very concept of “daily life” into question. Combining environmental portraits and documentary reportage, I hope to document this tragic and historic time in the life of this city, when cartel violence forges an uncertain new reality.