Starting out in Los Angeles and San Diego, Sekula spent seven years photographing harbours and major port cities around the world, chronicling the prosperity, poverty, and political powers that continue to play out in the shipping industry. From North America, he traveled to the shores of Europe and Asia, moving via Mexico and then back to the Pacific Coast of the United States. Along his multiple journeys, Sekula charted the migration of people and circuits of capital, while recording – with pen and camera – the experiences of diverse workforces. In so doing, Sekula reconstructed a realist model of photographic representation, while taking a critical stance towards documentary photography. The result is a book that reads variously like fiction, journalism, essay, and prose-poetry.