American Document | 1935-1944 |
The Road
The Road is the tone of transformation. The Road is paradoxical America, in all her turbulent glory, known by those who know her liberation. The Road is a metaphor for man's existence, composed of inward journeys of physical rebirth and decay, transcendence, and metamorphosis. The Road is a poetic indicator of crossroads and intervention, where each turn imposes its own mores, and where the brave decide their speed. The Road is a location, furnished with all types, running with the cadences of life, where the rural and urban never harm the other, though they recognize their differences. The Road is an allusion to America's proclivity for migration, obsession with cars, deeply rooted yearning for all that might be, and distrust of power wherever it occurs. The Road is a fortuitous place of consciousness, where darkness, violence, and light are entwined with myth and irony. To the beholder, the Road is a place where messages are communicated and perceived along the way; sometimes there is a detour, and sometimes it dies.
Theme | Photographer | Year | State |
The Road | John Vachon | 1940 | North Dakota |