Julian Montez currently lives in and is a native of San Antonio, Texas. He attended the University of Texas of San Antonio for two semesters before abandoning college for a career in IT operations. Over ten years of practice, Julian has explored and documented intercity and state-wide development. Through his career, he’s traveled the world and photographed landscapes that compare and contrast to his native Texas. Apart from his primary career, Julian also works as a freelance photographer for local San Antonio publications.
West Texas
West Texas is a place of marvel and mystery. It’s one of the most remote locations in the continental United States and that lends to its reputation. Seemingly innocuous communities are imbued with a sense of intimacy and vulnerability.
This spring, I planned a road trip through the region. With me traveled backpacking equipment and my camera. No itinerary was set for the adventure, merely an openness for experience and a mission to catalogue the region from the perspective of a native Texan from a Hispanic background. Highlighted throughout this series is also a sense of loneliness and isolation during our current political climate. During a time where West Texas is being used as a political tool with the deployment of the National Guard to the region’s border with Mexico.
A pause, a hesitation, is invited before military occupation and potential border wall construction reshapes this remote landscape.
To view more of Julian Montez’s work please visit his website.