Kevin Tully | Thinking About Photography

Kevin Tully

instagram.com/kevin.j.tully.3

Coahuila y Tejas

About eight years ago, when the call was going out from certain segments of society to “Build the Wall” along the border of Mexico with the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, I came up with the idea of creating a body of work that would ultimately become a book, documenting the area that is the old Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas with images that imitated old tintypes, but not exactly. I wanted something that combined a simulated old look with imagery that was both historic, contemporary, and sometimes ironic or quirky. The text would be meditations on the history, the architecture, the natural environment, and current quotes concerning “The Wall.”

The Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas existed from 1821 until 1836, when Texas became an independent Republic. Coahuila Y Tejas contained the land of all of current Texas and parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming.

The reality of Coahuila y Tejas has held a fascination for me due to the fact that much of the landscape, architecture, culture, and art of the former Mexican state remain irresistibly Mexican or Hispanic. I have traveled extensively through Texas (my home state), Arizona and New Mexico. I have lived and worked in South Texas, not far from the border. I learned to speak Spanish so as to be effective in my job in the construction industry. I’ve spent significant time down in Mexico. My first memory of eating at a restaurant as a child is at Felix’s Mexican Restaurant in Houston, Texas.

So, building “The Wall” represents, to me, something almost existential, an assault, a sacrilege.
These images are sketches, photographic maquettes. Hopefully I can get back to this project again soon.

Next Artist