Crossing: From USA to Canada, Walking Roxham Road

Crossing is about an “irregular” border crossing, not a legal port of entry, which became an increasingly popular destination for refugees attempting to enter Canada from 2018 to 2023, in response to Trump’s first presidency and policies towards immigrants. Making a dozen trips over the span of 4 years, Kaplan photographed the many intersecting elements that occurred as a result of this border’s existence, such as the local cab drivers authorized to drive asylum-seekers to the border, the Plattsburgh bus station, Interstate 87 connecting the town to the border, the Canadian border police, the north-country landscape and the stream of asylum-seekers passing through. Straddling New York state and Quebec, this tiny site was a microcosm of human migration occurring in many parts of the globe yet operating in a safe and effective way, making it highly unusual. The intention of these photographs is to challenge the otherness of how asylum-seekers are perceived offering a more nuanced view to counter the stereotypes traditionally found in refugee representation. Rather than emphasizing victimhood, what is evident is the courage and resilience these journeys require. They are fleeting passages between the past and an unknown future, but do not define a life. Due to ongoing controversy in Canada, the Roxham Road border site was closed in 2023. 

Ruth Kaplan  is a documentary-based photographer whose work explores a variety of themes such as the social behaviour of bathers in communal hot springs and bathhouses, participants in rituals of spirituality and the transient status surrounding refugees seeking asylum in Canada. In addition to an extensive background in editorial photography, Kaplan has exhibited internationally with work in major Canadian and international collections and publications. She is a recipient of numerous grants and awards and currently teaches at OCAD University and Toronto Metropolitan University.