Lost In Thought

The road trip is a uniquely American trope, found throughout music, writing and film. It expresses the fantasy that we can change our lives by changing our geography. “Lost In Thought” is my own version of a road trip series. Shot entirely on the US interstate system, I began the series the year of my divorce and resurrected the project this spring as an escape from pandemic restrictions. The car gives an illusion of privacy and provided me an opportunity to photograph people candidly; people, who like me, were lost in thought on their own personal journey. The portraits express an urgent restlessness; people looking for the next big break, a new start, leaving the past forever behind. The experience of an interstate journey, while in a state of constant motion, somehow feels suspended in space and time. The portraits are interspersed with images of the spaces rendered to reflect that surreal feeling of timelessness and no-placeness. These are archival pigment inkjet prints on kozo, a paper that creates a softer, more ethereal look than traditional photo papers. The titles were taken from my personal collection of fortune cookie messages, a way of wishing the subjects meet the fortunes they seek.