wwp@yahoogroups.com:
R: thoughts on "borders" - political boundaries
giancarlo 2006-Mar-11 23:00:00
The border between the Vatican City and Rome....is geographic,
symbolic, historical....
and artistic, too! G.L. Bernini built the
"colonnato" in the XVII century. I think that the S.Peter's view is one
of the most famous "cartolina" (postcard) of the world, like la Tour
Eiffel, London Bridge, the Branderburger Tor,...but I'm not afraid to
be banal!
Ciao a tutti,
Giancarlo
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Data: 11-mar-2006 23.09
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Ogg: thoughts on "borders" - political
boundaries
We try to select WWP themes that allow a variety of
interpretations
and a wide range of creative expression. You can take
the theme
literally, or metaphorically. There is always some
interesting
discussion on this list in the weeks leading up to the
event.
I tend to take the themes rather literally - for "Water" I shot
a
waterfall and reservoir, for "Marketplace" the Ferry Building
Marketplace. For me, as a geographer, one of the great things about
the WWP is seeing all the different places, the varied environments
and cultures all with a common theme.
So, consider shooting actual
borders - invisible lines on the ground,
usually defined by
governments, but then made visible by the human
activities that must
conform to them.
Here are a few examples of interesting borders:
In
the desert of Southern California the line between Riverside and
Imperial counties (usually county boundaries are of little account)
is marked by a dramatic contrast between lush irrigated agriculture
(grapes and oranges) on one side, and sere barren desert on the
other. It is because an irrigation project boundary coincides with
the county line.
City and similar boundaries often show striking
differences in
development - protected greenbelt right up against
subdivisions.
Differing histories and municipal priorities sometimes
highlight the
boundary between two cities (my high school intern Kaz
is working on
one of these). Redevelopment district boundaries often
contrast old
with new neighborhoods, sewer and water district
boundaries limit
sprawl.
The state of Nevada has for many years
allowed activities that are
illegal elsewhere, most notably gambling
and prostitution. This has
resulted in some striking border scenes.
On several highways you
drive for hours through uninhabited country,
then find a cluster of
gaudy casinos and hotels at the state line. On
one lonely desert road
the border is marked by a little cluster of
shabby trailers with a
huge sign announcing "brothel".
I had a
friend from Wisconsin (America's Dairyland) who said that
sale of
margarine was prohibited there, and as a result there were
roadside
"oleo" stands on major roads at the state line. I doubt if
this is
still true, but there are probably other similar cases.
Driving
across Texas, for example, one passes through "dry" counties,
where
sale of alcoholic beverages is strictly limited.
California even has
border checkpoints with adjacent states - for
agricultural
inspection. I found the same thing between the two
Mexican states of
Baja California Norte and Sur, where armed guards
check your papers
then ask blandly if you have any "guns, drugs, or
citrus fruit".
Some borders are notable for their very insignificance - the US-
Canada border for example. Until recently it was unfenced and
unguarded, often marked only by a line clearcut through the forest.
In one location it even runs down the middle of the village street.
But now, with drug-smuggling from Canada becoming a problem, along
with Homeland Security concerns, the border checkpoints are being
vastly expanded.
The US-Mexico border is a fascinating subject .
Although patrolled
and in places fenced, it is remarkably porous,
with at least 350,000
"undocumented aliens" crossing it each year. My
wife and I camped
right next to the border once, and all night we
heard people running
past our tent, northbound in the dark. The
border itself varies from
high fence with moat and surveillance
cameras in urban areas, to a
simple barbed-wire cattle fence out in
the desert. In Texas it runs
down the middle of the river (Rio Grande
in the US, Rio Bravo in
Mexico).
In several places twin cities have
grown up on the international
border: Detroit and Windsor, Niagara
Falls-Niagara Falls on the
northern border; San Diego-Tijuana, El
Paso-Juarez, Laredo-Nuevo
Laredo on the southern border. The daily
border crossings in these
cities are on a truly massive scale.
I
once flew across the border between the Dominican Republic and
Haiti.
The Dominican side was undisturbed forest - an uninhabited
military
buffer zone. The Haitian side was raw red eroding hillsides
with
virtually no trees, dotted with straw-thatched villages.
Some borders
that used to be important are now much less significant
- for example
between the former West and East Germany, and through
Berlin. But
others have gained in importance - new countries formed
by the
breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, internal
boundaries
become international borders.
Borders often show signs of former
conflicts - fortifications from
the Maginot Line to Hadrian's Wall,
as well as monuments to peace
treaties. And of course some borders
are still scenes of conflict -
the repeatedly redefined borders of
Israel.
Culture often changes at a border - signs and place names can
be in
different languages, postal boxes and uniforms change, there
are
usually flags.
I'm running out of time here, but I hope this may
have sparked a few
ideas. Everyone, please share your creative ideas
with the list.
Don
------
The World-Wide Panorama
For more
information:
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