(Editor’s note: The following are words and photographs of Eric Labastida. These are his thoughts and reflections during his time photographing Tijuana from 1992 to 2002)
When I started this project and photographing in general, I found inspiration in the library. Â This was before the internet, before we had the ability of riding the flood of information as we do now. Â I checked out photo books. Â My first visual and poetic guides were Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka, Mary Ellen Mark, and of course, Gene Smith. Â I was on a diet of strong composition, strong content and a feeling of pure joy in trying to catch that moment in the blink of an eye. Â It all had to be there: geometry, Â timing and magic. Â A very elusive beast indeed, Â but the hunt was pure living, and I got hooked.