A Glimpse of Freedom

[jmtonkin]

Hey everyone,

I recently returned from a week long mission trip to San Diego, CA and Tijuana, Mexico. On my last day in Mexico, we did a "border tour" and went to various sites along the border and talked a lot about immigration issues. While we were there I snapped the following picture:

This picture has quickly become one of my favorites and I don't really know why. It is so simple, but brings up so many emotions. If I didn't know what this was a picture of, it would have no purpose. It is, afterall, just a fence. The fact that I know that this is the border, makes me see it entirely different. I first thing I notice in this shot is the rust. The rust immediately makes me think of the age of the fence and all the history involved with that spot. I think of all the people who have peeked through that hole to catch a glimpse of the U.S. and the freedoms that we have. I think of those who have maybe tried crossing the border at that spot, and the families they are leaving behind and the difficulties they will have in the future.

Like I said, I know it is a simple picture, but it has grown to become one of my favorites. What are your thoughts? Am I looking too far into this?[FONT=lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif]
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[Geaux]

I see it as just the opposite. The dof set on the fence and out of focus background gives me the feeling of being locked in b/c of the emphasis on the fence. If it were the opposite and I could see the "freedom", that feeling might have been evoked.

 

[jmtonkin]

I did take one a little further down the fence, but I really didn't like how that turned out at all so I pretty much scrapped it.

Aside from the fence being crooked to keep a strait horizon, the U.S. side looks awful and not someplace that I would want to go. Also, the composition of this shot was pretty bad IMO.