In February 2015 photojournalist Andrew Tonn traveled to the border cities of El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, with a group of Lutheran pastors and volunteers on a border immersion trip. Tonn, who has worked extensively in Central America and Mexico over the last 15 years, was there to document life in the area as it relates to immigration and public health. As always, his work focuses on the people and their environment. In this collection, he portrays those who live and work on both sides of the border and whose lives are divided by political and physical boundaries. The images in this book are presented as a non-linear narrative, identified by neither name nor location, partially to avoid any issues regarding immigration status, but primarily to emphasize the similarity of the two cities, countries and their citizens.

The second half of Stepping On Holy Ground is part of a long-term documentary portraiture project in which Tonn creates studio space wherever he is, in order to photograph marginalized and overlooked populations and those who serve them. The portraits are later printed and returned to the subjects, many of whom have never had a professional image of themselves or their families. These classic portraits seamlessly blend the formal and informal, exhibiting the inherent dignity of all people. This project, titled “Portraits of Grace and Hope,” was begun at Casa Esperanza, the Lutheran mission for the homeless in San Salvador, and will soon be continued as Tonn and his family begin a two-year assignment in Mumbai, India.