American Roads

The American Roads porfolio containing twenty signed photographs by as many photographers was acquired for the collection of Moderna Museet in 1982. An edition of 100 copies of the portfolio were made, which contains both colour and black and white images. The participating photographers belonged to the generation that came to the fore at the end of the 1960s, and several of them have held positions as teachers and curators at various major photographic institutions across the United States. The images continue the tradition pioneered by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange of documenting the American landscape and countryside with empathy and insight. Another forerunner was Robert Frank and his influential book The Americans published in 1958. The exhibition contains a selection of 10 photographs in which everything from petrol stations, highways, gleaming busses and elephants to fascinating desert landscapes is shown.

Work by the following photographers is included in the American Roads portfolio:

Jim Alinder, Michael Becotte, Michael Bishop, Ken Brown, Barbara Crane, Robert Fichter, Steve Fitch, Robbert Flick, Frank Gohlke, Harold Jones, Mark Klett, Victor Landweber, Nathan Lyons, Elaine Mayes, Roger Minick, Tod Papageorge, Barbara Jo Revelle, Joel Sternfeld, Henry Wessel Jr. and Robert Widdicombe.