Texas From Above

The Photographs of Jay B Sauceda

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1 airplane. 1 pilot. 36 hours of flying time. 569.6 gallons of fuel. 44,000 photographs. The borders of Texas as you have never seen them before.

The diversity of the 3,822 miles of Texas border lands and waters is perhaps nowhere more clear than from a breathtaking aerial perspective. Stunning large format photographs, intimate salon-style groupings, and a first person diary from pilot Jay B Sauceda bring the borders of Texas to life in this portrait of the state’s boundary lines.

In Sauceda’s photographs, you ... see beauty. You see it in the feathered gills of windblown arroyos, the alveoli of deltas. The skin of the earth is a living thing. You are struck by both the colossal force of change and its undeniable splendor, in a way that is both frightening and invigorating.Rick Bass, Author

Throughout the exhibition, visitors will explore the rich and diverse geography of the state through captivating large and small scale images taken on Sauceda's journey. These photos capture the essence of our expansive state’s beauty — demonstrating the color, contrast, and uniqueness of a topography that changes drastically from one region to the next.

Hands-on and digital interactives take a closer look at the striking scenes Sauceda captured and offer a deep dive into his extensive catalog. Artifacts and media pieces explore the tools and expertise Sauceda relied on as well as his motivations for tackling the project. Whether hunting for details, charting a flight route, or discovering how simulations can assist pilots in learning to fly, Texas From Above will immerse visitors not only in the beauty of the state, but in the process that one person took to document that beauty.