In the summer and fall of 2019, with anti-immigration sentiment at a high point, MADWORKSHOP fellow and illustrator, Kevin Shapiro, and photographer, Austin Leong, traveled along the United States-Mexico border to find out, in real time, what was actually happening there. 

“On the Fence” uses photography, sketching, and personal accounts to document life in this emotionally-charged region. The information collected over Shapiro and Leong’s 2,000-mile journey revealed multiple realities occurring simultaneously. As the border shifts and transforms from wall, to fence, to open land and back again, so too do the stories and relationships impacted by it.