Robert Frank’s road is full of dark possibility.

Dorothea Lange’s road is forlorn.

Todd Hido’s road is fighting bleakness and despair.

Lee Friedlander’s road is full of cracks, waiting for the sudden acceleration as he hurdles straight through his ego.

Rebecca Norris-Webb’s road, you can feel the weight of the raindrops.

Stephen Shore’s road, you just hope he has his eyes on it and not lost on some tiny detail in the distance.

Garry Winogrand’s road has a feral animal about to meet its demise.

Ryan McGinley’s road has a naked person on it.

William Eggleston’s road… of course, I can’t think of anything witty to say about Eggleston.

 

Robert Adams roads, there are many beautiful ones to gawk at.

The open road photo is a blank slate. You can do anything with it—make it feel however you feel. Do you shoot it straight or at an angle, blurry or sharp. Bright or dark, dirt or asphalt, backroad or highway. Rain or withering heat. Do you wait for something or nothing at all.

Are you coming or going.

The open road was once romantic. But so were the starving artists. The Kerouacs escaping mundanity before life closes in and the demons catch up. And I’m sure much of America read On The Road as they got tricked into buying houses a 90-minute commute to work.

You know what’s really romantic? A middle-class artist with a shed living close to where they work.

I’m not saying there’s not the allure still. But none of these road photos above feel very optimistic anymore. But it could just be me. Is this freedom or being stuck.

Maybe as a society, we can’t escape our demons anymore. Maybe we have to turn back and face them.

(*These grid images were made high-res enough to be able to click and scroll the details. It’s an enjoyable way to view. I’m enjoying what you can do with a newsletter and a blog. It’s not a bad complement to the book form for sharing photography.)

Perception is fascinating. When I shared the car photos previously, I was curious about who would find them interesting and who not. And I still have no idea! As someone who never grew up around car culture, the everyday car commute is a strange experience. I’m not going to lie, I find the experience of people breathing on my neck during a subway commute to be far more enjoyable. Or staring at a Dr. Zizmor dermatology ad in all its copywritten brilliance while holding awkwardly to a poll. When I think about these moments, its fondly.

The day in high school when I woke up from a surprisingly wonderful nap with my head on an older lady’s shoulder. ‘You looked comfortable,’ she said. I got to pay back the favor to a kid a handful of years ago.

I went through my photographing on the subway phase in my 20s and early 30s, but then I realized my heart wasn’t it in. I can’t do it better than Bruce Davidson or Matt Weber anyway. But the main reason is that the subway is when I daydream and nap instead. I can fall asleep standing and hugging a pole with the best of them, a skill I’m very proud of.

The wealthiest people in the world.

I want to thank my wonderful mother-in-law Joycie for driving and allowing me to take these photos, as we took the kid an hour’s commute for two weeks of shark camp at the Long Island Aquarium (highly recommended). And I just have to clarify that the commute was not strange because of her, that part was quite lovely!

 

Note: Still spots left for a new weekend Downtown NYC workshop, Oct 19th + 20th, 2024. One of two group workshops that I put on each year.

 

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Upcoming NYC Events and Shows

 

ICP Museum.

Events:

• Affordable Art Fair: Affordable Art Fair NYC Fall 2024 – Sep 25th – Sep 29th, 2024

Shows:

 

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