PLACE
With a little imagination, one can see the state of Kentucky as a slightly misshapen stone arrowhead, the point of which lies to the far west of the state. Rather than being known as “The Kentucky Arrowhead” or some such moniker, it is instead known as the Jackson Purchase, so named because it was purchased from the Chickasaw Indians by Andrew Jackson in 1818. Covering just over 3,000 square miles, the region is bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the north and west, and by Kentucky Lake to the east, and it is home to a remarkable population of Americans.. See the Photo Journal here.
SNEAK PEEK
Kansas is, as we all know, mostly flat plains. To the east are famous locales such as Topeka and Kansas City (the Kansas side of town). To the west infamous wild-west locales such as Dodge City. In the middle, though, is the quiet, rolling terrain of the Flint Hills of Kansas. Take a sneak peak sneak peek of the work in progress.
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE
Not to repeat ourselves, but to entirely repeat ourselves: we could use your help. Right now, we are looking for help on two upcoming photographic journals.
First, we are looking to capture in photographs daily suburban life. If you know any families living in suburbia who would share a slice of that life with a photographer, let us know.
Second, we are hoping to photograph life in office park offices around the country. If you know any business occupying such a space who would welcome a photographer, let us know.
As always, feel free to drop us a line at editors@interstatemagazine.com.
INTRODUCTION TO ROBERT FRANK, A PHOTOGRAPHER YOU SHOULD KNOW
Cover of The Americans, the seminal -- and largely unmatched -- work of Robert Frank
While candid, ad-hoc American road trip photography is today a well established genre, in the 1950's, it was not. The notion of traveling the American highway and "photographing what was there" was simply not done. Nevertheless, taking his cue from photographers such as Lewis Hine and Walker Evans, Robert Frank set off to due just that: embark on the Great American Road Trip and photograph it all in gritty, in-the-moment black and white. Initially panned by the photographic press for being "muddy" and "not art", the resulting work, The Americans, has since become universally acknowledged as a foundational work of modern American road photography. The photographs are not perfect, and indeed, many are technically flawed, but they are indisputably real, and that fact outweighs the criticism. Sadly, Robert Frank passed away on September 9 at the age of 94.
You can find more information on Robert Frank here, and a wonderfully written obituary in the New York Times here.
EDITOR'S NOTE: THE QUIET CONFIDENCE OF THE JACKSON PURCHASE
The Jackson Purchase, the subject of our most recent Photo Journal, is home to a diverse group of people. From farmers to small-city folk, the people of The Jackson Purchase share a quiet confidence that informs not only their daily lives, but their interactions with others. Read more in this recent blog post.