Texas isn’t just a state – it’s a world of its own. With its independent (and at times mythic) identity, unchecked economic growth and increasingly conservative policies, the so-called Lone Star State has become the symbol of the tensions shaping contemporary America. Texas Trigger by Marco P. Valli and Luca Santese – published by Cesura Publishing – is a visual and narrative journey across this vast land, searching for what it means to be American today in an increasingly divided nation.

The project took shape in May 2024, during the presidential campaign that saw Donald Trump re-elected as President of the United States. The authors landed in Dallas and, in just over a month, traveled 5,000 miles through cities, small towns, and forgotten rural areas. It was a full immersion into the state’s social, political, and cultural fabric.

Throughout the journey, the authors weave together some of today’s most pressing issues: the opioid crisis, the rise in homelessness, the LGBTQ+ rights debate, and increasingly restrictive immigration policies along the Mexican border. Then there’s the uniquely American issue of gun rights – a symbol of freedom for many Texans, and a nightmare for those living in fear of daily violence.

The book is structured as a continuous photographic sequence, with no conventional table of contents dividing the chapters. What guides the narrative is the “trigger”: a visual and conceptual device that links each moment of the story. “Trigger” as in the gun mechanism, of course, but also the camera flash – an event that shocks, disorients, and provokes an emotional response.

Texas Trigger is a work that reflects the complexity of a fragmented America, teetering between progress and regression. A powerful road trip, where the image becomes documentation and the narrative transforms into collective reflection.