Amtrak: Waypoints
All the moments in-between, the Waypoints where we meet people on our way to some “place” at any given time, are for me, the moments that reveal a riveting visual story about Americana.
Train travel has a long history in America as being an important artery that links ordinary persons and communities across the country. Among other things, transportation by rail has kept very small rural towns from dying away by isolation. It also has kept in plain view the landscape of an American culture that air travel removed in its haste to get us from point A to Z in the least amount of time possible for productivity’s sake. Train culture has also had its place as subject matter in a long history of photographic study exploring portraiture, photojournalism, and the genre of documentary. It has proved a rich canvas to tell us of the American landscape. Train travel seems to honor the waypoints rather than the known beginning or the anticipated and expected end. Those waypoints, the people, places, and time that help navigate us towards a deeper connection to who we are, are most compelling to me.
