From honking cars to musicians to street vendors, crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is an experience filled with sound.
One researcher took inspiration from the 1977 World Soundscape Project, which was a way to explore the changing environment through sound, and created his own version.
The Border Soundscapes Project captures the everyday sonic experiences of life on the border.
Creator Jose Manuel Flores, an instructor at the University of Texas at El Paso’s Department of English, said his version of the project was born in the moments while he waited to cross on the bridge during his daily commutes.
“It’s like going in a tunnel,” he said. “The bridge is a tunnel, and in that tunnel a lot of sounds are surrounding you and every single sound has a story.”
Manuel Flores said the sounds capture the cultural identity of the border and the fronterizos who live their lives between the U.S. and Mexico.
“Our sister cities … share some kind of culture, and different activities are in some ways shaped from these dynamics,” he said. “That was part of my project: to identify what kind of elements shape our identity.”
Click here to view a soundmap of some places Flores has collected sound in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez.
Stream the Border Soundscapes Project below:
