Valerio Vincenzo

© Mehrak

The story of how borders change over time is like a play that unfolds in several acts, and is performed again and again. In Roman times, the limes were defensive lines, serving as advanced bases from where new conquests were launched. As borders, they were only recognised by the Empire. In the 20th century, borders became instruments for regulation and peacemaking, before later embodying rivalries and nationalism. It is only since the end of the Second World War, at the peak of capitalism, globalisation, free trade and the emergence of the European Union, that borders within the Schengen Area have disappeared.

For the last ten years or so, Italian photographer Valerio Vincenzo has travelled these European borders, the 20,000 kilometres of frontiers that have faded away under the effects of freedom of movement. These invisible boundaries come in many forms, materialised by a road, an electric fence, a river, a line inscribed on the tarmac or a milestone. Vincenzo plays with horizons and vanishing lines to depict these barricades that no longer exist, pointing to what the eye can no longer see. Borderline is an ode to the peace and freedom enjoyed in Europe at a time when nations are beginning to shut themselves away. It is a project born from the photographer’s own history. “In January 1995, I arrived in France on an Erasmus exchange and I wanted to stay to do an internship,” recounts Vincenzo. “Back then, I needed a residence permit. It was quite a battle getting the card. In March 1995, the Schengen agreements were signed and suddenly, I was no longer an Italian immigrant. I had become a European citizen.”

Later, at the age of 30, he gave up his job as a business strategy consultant to focus on his work in documentary photography. He embarked on several projects, including Borderline, after coming across a photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson showing a customs office between France and Belgium. He began to track down the last remaining customs posts in Europe, and soon started to hunt for the borders too. 

“I wanted to highlight this stage in European integration, I wanted to talk about the present. For Borderline, I’ve crossed borders more than 1,000 times! My goal was also to create new iconography for the word ’border’. Often, when we say the word, we think of customs, barbed wire, walls and such like, as these are the only images we really have.” Until now!