This Country of Ours

This Country of Ours

The United States

2005-2020

“This monster of a land, the mightiest of nations, this spawn of the future, turns out to be a macrocosm of microcosm me…From start to finish I found no strangers.  If I had, I might be able to report them more objectively.  But these are my people and this is my country.  If I found matters to criticize and to deplore, they were tendencies equally present in myself.  If I were to prepare one immaculately inspected generality it would be this: For all the enormous geographic range, for all of our sectionalism, for all of our interwoven breeds drawn from every part of the ethnic world, we are a nation, a new breed… This is not patriotic whoop-de-do; it is carefully observed fact…And this is more remarkable because it has happened so quickly.  It is a fact that Americans from all sections and of all racial extractions are more alike than Welsh are like the English…The American Identity is an exact and provable thing.”

-John Steinbeck, from “Travels With Charley: In Search for America”

November 17, 2018

Division and sectionalism are by no means new phenomena in the history of the United States.  We would have to ignore most of our nation's history to believe the current rifts between fellow citizens are unprecedented.  History illustrates that the road to becoming a "more perfect union" has been anything but a smooth pathway. Yet, quite understandably, our collective conscious feels this current division is unsettlingly unique; in some ways it is.  The last two decades have without a doubt been a tumultuous time in our nation's history.  The trying events of this recent past, as well as the political and cultural shifts that have taken place in response, have noticeably reshaped our country. We are a society which has become stratified and partitioned to the point where there seems to be little room for anything but distrust. This is the unfortunate state of our country, a family divided. There are winners in this sowed division and impasse, but it is not the American people.

While recognizing its somewhat naïve idealism, the sentiment of Steinbeck's quote is a hopeful token to my better angels when reckoning with the dispiriting state of our nation.  In spite of a collective anxiety that our country is slowly splitting at its seams, I hold that as Americans we are still so much more alike than we are different.  The more corners I visit around the United States, the more this proves to be true.  The assemblage of our identifying differences as a people, in all of their glaring contrasts, is what actualizes our nation.

This country is Ours, despite most of its citizens often feeling powerless in steering its direction. Where are we going as a nation, as Americans?  It can often be difficult summoning a positive vision of our nation’s future, which is by no means a partisan disposition.  Yet despite all of this, the pursuit and struggle toward the ever more elusive American Dream persists.  Our spirit as Americans, our will and perseverance, all of our prideful individuality, for better or worse is not lost.  The dedication to ensuring that the principles in which this nation was founded, Justice, Freedom, Liberty and Democracy, will continually become more than just aspirational words, but a reality. My apprehensive optimism is rooted in this cultural determination…but cynicism is always a worthy opponent.

The photographs contained in this collection attempt to pay homage to some of the great photographic works that have illustrated and reckoned with the complex soul of America. 

Location of Photographs:

1.   Chatham, MA (Flag through Storefront Window)

2.   Pismo Beach, CA (Man with Cross)

3.   New York, NY (Mother and Son)

4.   Baker, CA (Truck in Desert)

5.   Chalmette, LA (Civil War Devotee)

6.   Allentown, PA (House Facades)

7.   Natchez, MS (Man with Cowboy Hat through Window)

8.   Richmond, IN (Girl on Porch)

9.   New York, NY (Wall Street Monument)

10. North Western Ozarks, AR (Truck in Garage)

11. Washington, D.C. (Woman Cleaning Statues)

12. Los Angeles, CA (People Crossing Street)

13. New York, NY (Recession Special)

14. New Orleans, LA (Child with Machine Gun)

15. Denver, CO (Young Man in Tuxedo)

16. New York, NY (People Sitting on Fountain Wall)

17. Jim Thorpe, PA (Post Office)

18. Tampa Bay, FL (Youth in Formal Wear)

19. Memphis, TN (COGIC Heritage)

20. Blue Eye, AR (Blue Eye Sign)

21. Rayne, LA (Miss Etouffee)

22. Natchez, MS (Southern Mansion)

23. Trenton, NJ (Man Shouting)

24. Seattle, WA (Flyer Wall)

25. Southwest Appalachia, VA (Ketchup)

26. Devil's Tower, WY (Corvette)

27. Medora, ND (Pitchfork Steaks)

28. Charleston, SC (Girl Carrying Young Boy)

29. Las Vegas, NV (Romanesque Casino)

30. Seattle, WA (Two Boys with Log)

31. Youngstown, OH (Piano and Guitar in Warehouse)

32. New Brunswick, NJ (Portrait with Flags)

33. Pensacola, FL (Strike it Rich)

34. Mobile, AL (Confederate Flag)

35. Philadelphia, PA (Family Gathering)

36. Palm Springs, CA (Outdoor Sitting)

37. Nashville, TN (Country Poster)

38. New Orleans, LA (Giant Woman)

39. Los Angeles, CA (Man Exiting Train)

40. Avery Island, LA (Tanks on Train)

41. Live Oak, LA (Antebellum Woman)

42. Memphis, TN (Police Officer)

43. Portland, OR (Bust in Window)

44. Kings Canyon, CA (Van in Mountains)

45. New Orleans, LA (Women in Street)

46. Hwy 89, Navajo Nation, AZ (Structure below Mountain)

47. Las Vegas, NV (Giant Cowboy)

48. Naalehu, HI (People in Truck)

49. Los Angeles, CA (Hides for Sale)

50. New Orleans, LA (Street Car Windows)

51. Philadelphia, PA (Chemicals Storefront)

52. New Brunswick, NJ (Pizza Parlor Portrait)

53. Bethlehem, PA (Child, River, Factory)

54. Henderson, NV (Firework)

55. Las Vegas, NV (Partiers)

56. Los Angeles, CA (Trees, Tent, Christmas Tree)

57. Tampa Bay, FL (Club Entrance Portrait)

58. Los Angeles, CA (Mount Rushmore)

59. Bombay Beach, CA (The Last Resort)

60. Chalmette, LA (Young Man in Historical Attire)

61. NW Hwy 49, LA (Logging Piles)

62. Medora, ND (Cowgirl High Kick)

63. Big Sur, CA (Artist Portrait)

64. Central Hwy 15, UT (Snow on the Highway)

65. New Orleans, LA (Woman and Flag)