Spina Americana (American Spine) by Richard Sharum

Public Story

Spina Americana (American Spine)

Copyright Richard Sharum 2024

Updated Feb 2022

Location Midwest United States

Topics Black and White, Community, Cultural, Culture, Culture stories, Documentary, Editorial, Emotion, Environment, Faith, Family, Food, Freedom, Historical, History, Hope, Iconic places, Interior, Landscape, Loss, Love, Midwest, Minority, Parenting & Family, Peace, Personal Projects, Perspectives, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics, Portraiture, Poverty, Race, Religion, Religious minorities, Street, Travel, US Politics, Youth

Summary

Spina Americana (American Spine) is a project examining the role of the Central U.S. in the social, cultural and political future of our country at a time of heightened national division. Commonly, and demeaningly referred to as "flyover country", my aim is to highlight the lives and environment of millions of Americans relatively unknown to the rest of the country. The goal is to discover and hopefully convey the complex diversity of this often misunderstood part of our nation, for the purposes of advocating for a more national bond.

Of all the projects to have taken place as an examination of the United States, including documentations such as Avedon’s American West, Robert Frank’s Americans, and most recently, Matt Black’s Geography, I have not found any that have explored a strict confine of the Central U.S. as a stand-alone entity, and the people/cultures who occupy it. During this time of national division, my goal is to give light to this area commonly referred to as “fly-over country”, a term I find highly demeaning and divisional.

I have carved out a 100 mile path of land, 50 miles east/west of the geographic center (near Lebanon, Kansas). It runs vertically from the U.S.- Mexico border to the U.S. - Canadian border, traversing the “spine” of the United States, as a unique feature of our social, cultural and political landscape.

The Central U.S. is often assumed to be a desolate, uninteresting part of the United States. I propose that it is in fact a highly diverse and complex area that continues to affect the direction of our people. There is a vast spectrum of individuals and cultures that live within this “spine”, including Native Americans, Mennonites, farmers, and many others, including the enormous impact of the Hispanic culture at the southern border. In showing aspects of daily life, I plan on equalizing the roles of mechanics, surgeons, police officers, prisoners, exotic dancers, etc. as all contributing factors to what defines this part of the country.

Visual exploration for the purposes of documentation in the Midwest has not been done extensively since the 1930’s with the Farm Security Administration and the migration of sharecroppers towards the West.

I aim to take a cross-section of the United States as it currently stands, from the Colonias on the U.S.- Mexico border, to the rich culture of San Antonio, to the Native American reservations in Oklahoma, Kansas and the Dakotas, up to the oil-rich terrain at the U.S.-Canada border, and most of what is in between, including agricultural and natural resource industries. I want to see the backbone of America- what feeds it and what powers it. My work for the past 17 years has followed the same premise: understanding through education and an empathetic vision. I began this project in Jan. of 2021 and have thus far made visits to Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota.

The project will be broken up into geographical sections for efficiency. I will fly into the nearest airport within that section and document for a period of up to 3 weeks each time. Upcoming documentation will be a home birth in Kansas,12 days with tornado chasers in Oklahoma, and a Pow-Wow in North Dakota.

The ultimate goal of Spina Americana (American Spine) is to highlight the unique and individual aspects of one of the most overlooked geographical areas in our country, and in the end publish a book to add to the overall discussion of American cultural landscapes and contemporary history.

364