Bowie High School is, in many ways, a typical American high school–its students play in football games, attend prom, and dream of bright futures. It is also unique, due to its location. It sits less than half a mile away from the Rio Grande, and many students live just across the border in Juarez, Mexico, commuting via the nearby border crossing to go to school.
Part of the border wall has already been built in El Paso, and it can be seen from the campus. It’s said that everything is bigger in Texas. This is especially true regarding the role Texas has played in the territorial histories of the U.S. and Mexico, and in shaping American identity. The interplay of Tejano and Mexican culture plays out constantly in El Paso, as does their complicated relationship to Anglo–Texan identity, and the way whiteness is often deemed interchangeable with American-ness.
Texas cheerleading has become an iconic representation of America. I wanted to take this deeply American phenomenon, and use it as a lens to examine the intersections between Mexican/American/Tejano cultures, and femininity, adolescence, and socioeconomics.
This project was completed with the help of the IWMF, The Marshall Project and National Geographic.
Artist Bios
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Sara Naomi Lewkowicz
Sara Lewkowicz is a native New Yorker with a master’s degree in visual communication from Ohio University in Athens. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Sara is a two-time World Press Photo winner, she was awarded first place in Contemporary Issues in 2014, and third place in the same category in 2016. She was the 2014 L’Iris d’Or winner, and has won several other grants and awards, including the 2013 Alexia Student Grant, and the 2013 Ville de Perpignan Rémi Ochlik Award, and she has been named the 2013 College Photographer of the Year by POYi.
Her work has been published in National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, TIME Magazine, Der Spiegel, L’Espresso, and numerous other magazines and newspapers.
Organizations
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Photoville
Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.
In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.
By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation.
Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.
For more information about Photoville visit, www.photoville.com
Cheering on the Border
Featuring: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz
Locations
View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Pier 2146 Furman Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
Explore other locations and exhibitions nearby
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- Thursday 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
- Friday 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
- Saturday 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
- Sunday 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
