Texas, the “Lone Star” of the United States, stands out for being the second-largest state in the country and for its strong sense of identity—if it were an independent nation, its economy would rank tenth in the world. The state continues to attract a growing number of industries and citizens, drawn by the absence of income taxes and generally low taxation. Over the last decade, these conditions have fueled rapid economic growth while deepening social inequalities and widening the gap between the richest and poorest. Meanwhile, each year, thousands of undocumented migrants attempt to cross the border separating Texas and Mexico. The political discourse surrounding the Mexican border has become increasingly divisive, bolstering support for the Far Right’s most security-focused agendas.

Over the past few years, Texas has seen a troubling rise in drug addiction and homelessness. This phenomenon—partly linked to the nationwide opioid crisis—has visibly reshaped not only major cities but also smaller towns and rural areas, where access to health care, housing, and social services is often limited or nonexistent.

At the same time, the debate over LGBTQIA+ rights has grown increasingly prominent, fueled by state laws that restrict transgender people’s access to health care and limit protections for the broader queer community. These regulations have sparked national controversy, deepening the divide between the Republican-led Texas and a growing opposition from progressive movements.

Politically, the state remains a Republican stronghold—a position reinforced by Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. The right to own and freely carry firearms is deeply ingrained in the local culture, earning Texas the nickname “Sanctuary of the Second Amendment.” For many Texans, gun ownership symbolizes independence and freedom, standing in contrast to growing calls from activists for tighter regulations to address gun violence.

Against this backdrop, Texas fully embodies many of the dynamics at the heart of current American political discourse: firearms, civil rights, immigration, and social inequalities. We thus decided to embark on a journey across the state to explore those issues more closely.

We landed in Dallas on May 13, 2024, and throughout just over a month, we drove approximately 5,000 miles—traversing cities and the most remote, sparsely populated areas. The road trip unfolded during the height of the 2024 presidential election campaign, a period marked by significant events such as the annual National Rifle Association of America (NRA) meeting and the Republican and Democratic party conventions.

The book is divided into chapters that follow the chronology of events and encounters from the trip. However, there is no index to separate them schematically—instead, the work unfolds as a continuous photographic sequence, where each part flows into the next through a visual trigger: a threshold that signals the passage from one chapter to another. Besides referring to the mechanism of a firearm or the device that activates our camera flashes, the trigger is also meant as an activator that disorients and provokes an emotional response.