This project was done by Noelle Mason which documented the lived experience of illegal immigrants in the USA. After using the source from the government’s public Internet databases, Noelle Mason transforms surveillance X-Rays and satellite imagery into sculptural works (using Backscatter Blueprint printed Cyanotypes on watercolour paper). From my understanding, there are countries like USA, Germany, UK, etc… scan trucks, lorries, boats... (transports carrying goods) at every border in order to spot people who try to enter their countries illegally. The project had me thinking why migrants have to suffer to exchange in order to live in a new country. In her work, she tackles the intense point of migration – humanizing individuals who tend to be stripped of their humanity. This is a brilliant and creative way to show the dark side of immigration.
These images are so accurate from what I imagined from what I have heard through different stories of people who migrant to the UK. They hide in different types of transports and there are many ways they can enter to a country illegally. Hiding in there was not easy for them to survive as well, they have to suffer and in a closed environment, they have to try hard and the only thing they pray for at that time was successfully get through the border safely.
Noelle Mason chose to show downside of migrants through Cyanotypes which were the perfect fit for the imagery that is created by backscatter machines and this affected me with emotions. In a somewhat chilling set of manipulated photographs, Noelle opens up viewers eyes and allows the audience to look deeply inside the truth. The project remediates images of the border into handmade objects to expose how new vision technologies (backscatter, x-ray, sonic, thermal and digital imaging) recycle Cartesian modes of viewing both land and body in so doing reinforce a neo-colonial social and political relationship with Mexico.
In the second article (Source 2), Noelle has explained clearly how she carried out her works “The images are taken by Border Patrol and customs and often published on their own websites as well as on the websites of vigilante groups/ Reddit etc. I have spent many hours savaging the internet to find large enough images to use for this project. Once I have selected an image to reproduce, I take it into editing software to crop it and clean it up. Sometimes the images are warped as well, either by the backscatter x-ray machine or for some other reason. After editing the image, I will create a digital negative using only red ink (red ink is more UV resistant than black.) This negative is then used to make a contact print using a UV light source. I mix my own cyanotype chemical and coat my own paper, so that is done about two hours before I want to print the image. I do this so the paper has time to dry but is not so old that it is difficult to wash out. An exposure takes about three minutes with a 3000-Watt lamp. After the paper is exposed, I wash it with water and a splash of hydrogen peroxide for about five minutes.” – the process stated by Noelle.
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