Migrant Artifacts: Magic and Loss in the Sonoran Desert bears witness to one of the world's most dangerous journeys - the migratory passage of thousands of undocumented workers north across the Arizona-Sonora border. Michael Hyatt's unsettling perspective frames the perilous trek through images of things left behind - artifacts of a journey that has become one of the most controversial issues in today's national and international political debate.
Hyatt's stark black-and-white photographs - a child's sun-bleached dress, an American Eagle backpack lying on the parched earth, an abandoned religious icon, a copy of El Diaro de Ana Frank with the pages blowing in the desert wind - tell a poignant story of the people who have hazarded this often fatal trip. The faces are unseen, yet these unforgettable images show us a vibrant humanity in the discarded remnants of desperate lives even as we confront the brooding mystery of a fate unknown.
Photographs may be purchased separately.
LIST OF CAPTIONS:
1. Cover: Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine Along the Migrant Trail
2003
2. Title Page: Beginning of a Migrant Trail 2004
3. Page 5: Border Security & Essential Supplies 2006
4. Page 6: Migrant’s Backpack, American Eagles Logo 2004
5. Page 7: Hanging Fruit Cholla 2005
6. Page 8: Calling on Saint Jude 2007
7. Page 9: Anne Frank in a Migrant Camp 2004
8. Page 11: Mysterious Form Near a Migrant Camp 2005
9. Page 12: Migrant Father – Altar, Mexico 2005
10. Page 13: Migrant Mother – Altar, Mexico 2005
11. Page 15: Random Placement, or Site of Sexual Violence 2006
12. Page 17: Waiting For Nightfall 2004
13. Page 18: Sandals From Another World 2005
14. Page 19: Missing Person, Dead Saguaro 2005
15. Page 20: Toy Dolphin in a Migrant Camp 2006
16. Page 21: Humane Borders Water Station 2005
17. Page 23: Detail: Guatemalan Backpack 2005
18. Page 24: Broken Down Stroller, Jumping Cholla Forest 2005
19. Page 25: Hanging Fruit Cholla Shadow 2003
20. Page 26: Samaritan Searches For Humans in Distress 2004
21. Page 27: Caring for Blistered Feet 2005
22. Page 28: Migrant Family Portrait 2006
23. Page 29: Lost on the Migrant Trail 2005
24. Page 31: Migrant Child’s Shoe – Arivaca Wash 2006
25. Page 33: End of the Migrant Trail – Tohono O’Odham Nation 2003
26. Page 35: Site of Humanitarian Memorial 2006
27. Page 37: Praying For a Safe Journey – Altar, Mexico 2005
28. Back Cover: Mike Wilson – Tohono O’Odham Nation 2004
