Private Story
America at the edge
Summary
Presented to the 2022 Alexia Grant jury is “My Americana,” a contemporary essay about day-to-day occurrences in the United States of America. Images submitted document issues such as social unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic –people both adhering to or defying safety protocols, homelessness, immigration, and documenting the political divide in the country, illustrated during the campaign seasons, on election day, and the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021. An emotional photograph of a Vietnam veteran wraps up the represented imagery.
The photographer’s curiosity is captivated by observed daily occurrences, regardless of where they are found – a city street, the rural road, or a place of worship, just about everywhere. At the beginning of 2020, the necessity to address more substantial social issues arose. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has been included in this reportage. This continues in 2022.
This project was started in 2015 and has been largely self-funded. By changing direction, the essay brings more journalistic issues, personal human themes which in turn will lead to important imagery included in the final creation. Already part of this project, immigration, is expanded to show the working class, so hard hit due to the Pandemic, unemployment, and uncertainty of their future.
A record of the political process is vital, with the chasm of opposing doctrine bordering on fanaticism, a visual documentation on the issue has become vitally important to the final collection. In the first half of 2022, excursions through the Midwest, Appalachia, and South exploring race relations, specific industries in peril, and other socioeconomic issues. An expansive trip along the Mississippi River basin to highlight farmer’s plight, climate change (severe weather, flooding, or drought) and economic disparities in cities such as St. Louis and Minneapolis.
The photographer intends to spotlight regions/cities with high hospitalizations, and the staff coping with the pandemic. Industry, innovation and other issues are being added, including start-up electric car production, heavy industry (shipbuilding) and population centers growing in the West, where water resources are increasingly becoming scarce. Backroads have provided a wealth of stimulating subject matter.
The first years of producing “My Americana” the author has documented annual celebrations, people exploring landmarks, aftermaths of natural disasters, and daily street experiences. The process to team with media outlets in the USA or Europe to further secure entree into situations typically not afforded to freelancers, is being aggressively explored.
The Alexia Grant will defer expenses and allow for full-time dedication to the project, not having to self-fund or, accept assignments which will take time and energies away from “My Americana”. A photography centered book, as well as traveling exhibitions are anticipated at the conclusion of the project.
25
