Vanishing Borderlands: The Fragile Landscape of the U.S.-Mexico Border [Hardcover]

John Annerino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2008

John Annerino, famed photographer of the Amerian Southwest, portrays the astonishing beauty of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and contrasts those with images of the conflict that threatens to destroy them.

These 1,956 miles through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California on the U.S. side and Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Baja California Norte on Mexico's side are the beautiful, rugged, blood-stained borderlands that once lured conquistadors, missionaries, scalp hunters, bandits, smugglers, pioneers, and colonists from Spain, Mexico, and the United States.

Annerino canoed the Río Grande/Río Bravo del Norte through the legendary Big Bend Frontier, walked treacherous immigrant trails like Arizona's Camino del Diablo (Road of the Devil), explored borderlands jaguar country on foot, and came to know the resilient people who live, work, and cling to the traditions on both sides of the border. Along the way he chronicled his perilous journeys through this "geography of chaos," capturing in remarkable photographs and evocative essays the stunning landscapes whose fragile environment is threatened by today's politics.

"John Annerino is one of the handful of photographers with a real empathy for the West. His work has an edge to it, reflecting the sheer size and power of his subject—a subject he treats with respect and love. This land, which is so much a part of the American psyche, now threatened by pollution, by the spread of human settlement, and by exploitation, is as raw and exciting in Annerino's work as it is in our mind's eye."—Newsweek

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Vanishing Borderlands artfully captures the beauty and fragility of this extraordinary and dangerous paradise, gracefully balancing the region's grandeurs with its truths."
-- The Seattle Times


"John Annerino is an excellent photographer and a fine writer with a special affinity for the American Southwest and Old Mexico. His newest book focuses on the natural wonders that became landmarks for the . . . the border between Mexico and the U.S., a beautiful, but isolated and harshly unforgiving, land."
-- Dallas Morning News

"Many of us love the Southwestern borderlands for their stirring landscapes and timeless people. In transfixing photos and enchanting essays, John Annerino ably brings us both . . . He reminds us what is at stake along the border. Annerino knows both sides of the line and this book is exceptional."
-- Southwest Books of the Year

From the Author

Southwest Book of the Year            
* View images from this photo collection at johnannerinophotography.com
* Read the author's illustrated biography at johnannerino.com
* Get updates about the author's published work at Author Central
* Order now from Amazon
* Autographed and inscribed copies available at johnannerinobooks.com

Images from this photo collection were featured in:
* National Geographic Adventure, magazine and online
* National Geographic, online
* The Natural Landscapes of Mexico / La Naturaleza de México, 5 single-artist Browntrout calendars

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Countryman (September 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881507172
• ISBN-13: 978-0881507171
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,162,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John is pleased to share the exciting news that his newest book, The Virgin of Guadalupe: Art and Legend, will be published on March 1 by Gibbs Smith. John's illustrated 100 Year Centennial paeans to the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico: A Photographic Tribute, and the Grand Canyon State, Arizona: A Photographic Tribute, were just published. His landmark photograph commemorating the World Trade Center was recently published in the 2011, 10th Anniversary editions of the New York Times No. 1 bestselling books, LIFE One Nation, America Remembers September 11, 2001, and LIFE In the Land of the Free. The iconic image and others can be viewed online at www.johnannerinophotography.com. John Annerino's indelible photographs were published previously in the New York Times No. 1 bestselling book, America 24/7: 24 Hours, 7 Days, Extraordinary Images of One American Week, and the Grand Canyon state sequel Arizona 24/7: Amazing Photographs of an Extraordinary State. John is the author and photographer of many books, among them 17 distinguished photographic essays and thirty-two single-artist calendars, including Wild & Scenic Arizona, Wild & Scenic New Mexico, La Virgen de Guadalupe, and the award winning books Indian Country, Desert Light, Grand Canyon Wild, Vanishing Borderlands, Canyons of the Southwest, The Wild Country of Mexico, and Roughstock: The Toughest Events in Rodeo, (acclaimed by the Rodeo Hall of Fame). John's credits include Arizona Highways Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, LIFE, Newsweek, People, Scientific American, Time, Travel & Leisure, and many prestigious clients worldwide. In his quest to explore the renowned landscapes and secret places of the Great Southwest and Old Mexico with a camera and pen over last 25 years, John has climbed its hallowed mountains, rafted its wild and scenic rivers, journeyed on foot through its mystical chasms, and crossed its alluring deserts. He has photographed and come to know the region's Native peoples and ceremonies, Western cowboys and traditions, and Spanish heritage and celebrations. John Annerino is a member of The Authors Guild, New York. Visit his illustrated bio online at www.johnannerino.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First on the Front Lines - Compelling imagery and essays, November 13, 2008

By 

Alex D. (Lost Horizons, Santa Fe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vanishing Borderlands: The Fragile Landscape of the U.S.-Mexico Border (Hardcover)

While the Sierra Club covered its eyes, ears, and voice to the humane rights crisis, abuses and environmental disaster that unfolded in the borderlands over the last decade, John Annerino was first on the front lines to document the life and death saga on the U.S./Mexico border in his riveting non-fiction book, Dead in Their Tracks: Crossing America's Desert Borderlands. While the Sierra Club stood motionless, Annerino was the first to document the smugglers - and a National Park Ranger's death by their guns - in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for National Geographic Adventure. While the Sierra Club remained mum and pondered what to do, conservationist Annerino continued documenting habitat destruction in Cabeza National Wildlife Refuge for National Geographic Adventure. And while the Sierra Club stood on one side of the border producing its sanitized club-fomercial "Wild Versus Wall," Annerino (author and photographer of 7 distinct Sierra Club Books' editions) was doing what he does best, working dangerous terrain and wild country -- often alone --on both sides of the United States/Mexico border. He was befriending locals, (Mexicans, indigenous people, and Americans), illegal immigrants, dangerous smugglers, and law enforcement officers, talking face to face, listening to their stories, and taking sensitive portraits. Far from help and home, he was exploring magnificent and rugged transborder landmarks, rivers, deserts, mountains, and canyons, and making stunning landscape photographs. Armed with a camera and pen, he was taking a hard look, making notes, drawing maps, and documenting the environmental destruction, migrant deaths, and border agent killings for his compelling book, Vanishing Borderlands: The Fragile Landscape of the U.S.-Mexico Border. The Seattle Times wrote: `Vanishing Borderlands artfully captures the beauty and fragility of this extraordinary and dangerous paradise. . . gracefully balancing the region's grandeurs with its truths'."

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, November 10, 2008

By 

D. Millis "Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vanishing Borderlands: The Fragile Landscape of the U.S.-Mexico Border (Hardcover)

Few have more experience in the desert borderlands than John Annerino. His excellent photography and years of wilderness experience combine to provide a very unique look at the border. Jammed with beautiful, raw twilight photos of timeless border landscapes, the large format and intense colors expose the high stakes of our border crisis. Entitled "Vanishing Borderlands," the book is a little soft on the U.S. border policies that are endangering the lands so wonderfully captured in its photography. The last section of the book is a bit of a glorification of the enforcement activities that are ripping our protected public lands and wildlife habitats to shreds. Still, Annerino gives a great overview of the border wall project, the damage it causes to fragile ecosystems, and, most importantly, the absolute grandeur of the lands it threatens to dissect.

Dan Millis

Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign

Tucson, Arizona

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of paper...., November 27, 2010

By 

Bibliomaniac (Northern NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vanishing Borderlands: The Fragile Landscape of the U.S.-Mexico Border (Hardcover)

Amazon could sell this book for $1 and it would not be worth it. The best photos are on the front and back covers--what is in between is quite literally trash. The photo reproduction is poor (perhaps because its printed in China?), the subject matter is poor (drug and human smugglers in a nature book?), and the text? Honestly, I could not even bring myself to read it, I was so turned off by the photos. This is supposed to be a photography book, right? Save your money folks, this book it not worth it at any price.