art activist documenting the border wall

Photographer and art activist Laurie Smith

tells stories through narrative photography while exploring the complexities of culture. For more than 30 years, she has photographed food, culture, and travel in a reportage style. Laurie approaches her subjects honestly, with only her Leica and a monopod strapped over her shoulder, taking advantage of ever-changing natural light to photograph the story in front of her.

She has shot over 35 cookbooks and photographed for regional and national publications, including Denver’s 5280 magazine, Food & Wine, Sunset, and Saveur, traveling on assignment to markets, kitchens, and restaurants around the U.S. and the world.

For the past five years, she has turned her eye to something close to her heart. Laurie’s roots in West Texas pull her to the U.S.–Mexico border to document what is unfolding at the border wall. Her intent is to evoke compassion. To end complacency about the issues of immigration by giving a face to the human cost of the unrelenting migrant crisis. To illuminate the moral and social divisiveness occurring at this time. To spark bipartisan dialog about legal, fact-based solutions when all sides seem to be obscuring the truth.

The Why

I am a child of the border.
Through this lens, I see.
I am driven
To photograph a wall.
The Wall
That has ripped through a century-old
Paso del Norte – Pass of the North.
Through my lens, I bear witness to the Wall
And all it has come to represent.
A rip
A tear
A gash
Broken families
Broken friendships
Broken journeys
Broken land
Broken cultures
Broken nations
Broken souls
Broken promises
Broken trust
Broken dreams
Broken hearts
I search for the light to shine through.