the edge of knowing

Carnaval and rodeo. Manioc and maize. Salt pans, gold pans, Inca Kola, super-sized. Pumas and polar bears. Geoglyphs and Northern Lights. Favelas, dugouts, mangroves and the Rio Grande.

The fabric of the Americas, spanning political borders, is woven together with the indelible threads of shared histories and hard-fought freedoms. Despite the vibrancy of this tapestry, the nations of these two massive continents remain wary of one another. Their borders end up representing not only political lines in the sand, but the outer limits of curiosity and imagination.

The Edge of Knowing is the culmination of a year-long journey across South, Central, and North America from Antarctica to the Arctic. With photographs and essays, Magda Biernat and Ian Webster take us beyond the political and cultural boundaries that traditionally define national identity. Exploring places both foreign and familiar, they examine common misconceptions that persist about what the Americas are made of and what the word “American” means.