15 February 2011

This Hard Land



Somewhere out in the desert
near Winslow, Arizona.
June 2009.



Now even the rain it don't come round 
Don't come round here no more
And the only sound at night's the wind
Slammin' the back porch door

Yeah it stirs you up like it wants to blow you down
Twistin' and churnin' up the sand
Leavin' all them scarecrows lyin' facedown
In the dirt of this hard land

(Bruce Springsteen)


The American landscape, and whatever else has been left abandoned within this landscape (such as old cars, houses, and neon signs), has fascinated me for almost a decade now, and still continues to do so. 

There are two photographers of classic Americana who stand out - American-born Stephen Shore and English-born Richard Heeps need no introduction. Their books Uncommon Places and Man's Ruin (the former by Shore and the latter by Heeps, respectively) are stunning collections of photographs of landscapes, vintage cars, and people dressed in 1950s and 1960s fashion. However, there's a third photographer; his photographs are not quite as iconic as those of Shore and Heeps - they do look like stills from a road movie though. And that's certainly a good thing. His name is Scott Pommier

I had intended to build another portfolio of American photographs this summer, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Me and my buddy had a great route planned with more than 70 places we were going to visit, but due to both financing and scheduling problems, we had to put those plans on hold. I'm definitely going on that trip within the next three years, though.


Have a great week.


- Dom

6 comments:

T. Becque said...

Great photograph! I like the old, beaten Americana stuff too. I know how you feel about your trip, I'm still hoping to go to Europe in a few months, but if airfare doesn't come down some...I don't know...we'll see.

Dom said...

Thank you!
Tell me about it. Well, good luck - I hope you'll get a chance to visit Europe.

Regina said...

You have such a talent for putting photos together with words..I enjoyed this - very cool!

Dom said...

Thank you very much, Regina. Glad you enjoyed reading my blog.

Brooke said...

So sad about the trip :( Still.

Going to have to look into those photographers a little more! :D I've been getting interested in those time periods myself lately.

Dom said...

Haha, I know, me too. One day, one day...

Yeah, I love photographs from back then. I love the cars, I love the way people dressed, their hairstyles, and the music they listened too.