STORIES FROM THE ROAD: TEXAS
These images were created during a week spent exploring South Texas, specifically the area in and around South Padre Island. I was there to document a Sculptor who works specifically with sand, and has built a business out of teaching people how to create 6 foot sandcastles on the beach, but that’s a story for another day. It was my first time visiting any Southern state, but South Padre Island is about as South as you can get. It is 30 miles from the Mexican boarder, and I was there during Spring Break. In my off time, I walked and drove around for hours capturing different parts of the sandbar and it’s surrounding towns.
I have heard this part of Texas described as an “end of the road” place, situated in a state that is notoriously loud in the global imagination, but I also knew it was a renown tourist destination at this time of year so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I stepped off the small plane at Brownsville Airport. I certainly had some trepidation, given the political situation of the country, but the South Padre Island I experienced was noticeable less interested in American politics than I had expected, give or take the odd Trump sign of which positive, negative and somewhere in between were all spotted. None more confronting than the bar featuring workers (almost all hispanic) wearing pro Trump tops as part of their uniform. I wondered how many of them truly agreed with the sentiments their employer insisted they sport.
However, Texas in reality is it’s own universe, and the Texans I met were much more concerned with local issues. The infamous stories of ruckus youth and full beaches were delivered with a wistful nostalgia, but no one could tell me where the Spring Breakers had disappeared to. Hotels, beachfront bars and the streets were empty. Walking around the aging island felt oddly lonely at times, like I was the only person that had remembered to book a flight that year. This of course comes with problems for the locals, some of whom were making just enough to keep themselves going and yet seemed almost happy they didn’t have to deal with the Spring Break of years gone by. There were accusations that the town was run by “corrupt” money men, blame was sometimes laid at the foot of the President, but mostly people were just getting on with things.
These images depict the changing face of a once bustling area, the slow pace of life in small town America and the mark a wider social and political choices make on these places. It was a delight to spend time with the citizens of South Padre Island and the Rio Grande Valley, and I am so grateful to have heard their stories.
