National Character

Photographing the United States of America is to unfurl a tapestry of exceptionalism -- not the “City upon the Hill” exceptionalism, but a genuine, vestigial kind. As highways began replacing railroad lines in the 1950s, a restructuring of physical and social space began. Suburbs rose and many cities declined. What persists is an illustrative tracery of people and places, rich in their ability to find meaning in transformation.  Tracing railroad tracks for a concomitant project, Railroad Landscapes, has led me to many of the pictures composing National Character. From urban to rural, I have traveled extensively throughout the United States in search of images which describe the country’s collective history and shared values.

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Bearded Lady, Willets Point, New YorkThe image shows the intersection of Willet’s Point Boulevard and 37th Ave in the borough of Queens, New York City. The area is colloquially known as “The Iron Triangle” or “Willets Point”. The area was originally the city’s ash pit and referenced in The Great Gatsby during one of their sojourns driving into the city. Since the 1950s it has been a junkyard and auto repair mecca. There is no plumbing or city services to the area – you can imagine the smell. In the last few years it has been in the cross-hairs of city government and private interests as they are hellbent on franchising the neighborhood into shopping and residences. In fact, demolition has already begun and the structure (if you would call it that, many of these auto repair shops were housed in nothing more than an arched steel shed) I stood on create this picture is now gone and the rest of the neighborhood seems to be following suit. I spent many days wandering Willets Point, which is really only about a 2/3 of a mile in size photographing the colorful facades and people that worked there. The figures in the scene are not posed, I waited about two hours for the right combination of light and subject placement. Like many of my images, the area was scouted out well ahead of time. Willets Point has been in my memory since I was a child, as my father would take his truck there for parts. It was shot on my 8×10″ camera using a Fujinon 600mm C lens and Kodak Portra 400 film.

Bearded Lady, Willets Point, New York

The image shows the intersection of Willet’s Point Boulevard and 37th Ave in the borough of Queens, New York City. The area is colloquially known as “The Iron Triangle” or “Willets Point”. The area was originally the city’s ash pit and referenced in The Great Gatsby during one of their sojourns driving into the city. Since the 1950s it has been a junkyard and auto repair mecca. There is no plumbing or city services to the area – you can imagine the smell. In the last few years it has been in the cross-hairs of city government and private interests as they are hellbent on franchising the neighborhood into shopping and residences. In fact, demolition has already begun and the structure (if you would call it that, many of these auto repair shops were housed in nothing more than an arched steel shed) I stood on create this picture is now gone and the rest of the neighborhood seems to be following suit. I spent many days wandering Willets Point, which is really only about a 2/3 of a mile in size photographing the colorful facades and people that worked there. The figures in the scene are not posed, I waited about two hours for the right combination of light and subject placement. Like many of my images, the area was scouted out well ahead of time. Willets Point has been in my memory since I was a child, as my father would take his truck there for parts. It was shot on my 8×10″ camera using a Fujinon 600mm C lens and Kodak Portra 400 film.

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Gate, Belfry and 66, Wright City, Missouri

In this roadside view printed in reverse, the view from inside a cemetery peers outward at a church steeple surmounted by a gas station sign.

Kinzua Viaduct, McKean County, Pennsylvania

This scene shows the collapsed rail bridge across Kinzua Creek. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1982. The ruins of the Kinzua Bridge are in Kinzua Bridge State Park off U.S. Route 6 near the borough of Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania.

Downtown, Columbus, Ohio

Downtown, Columbus, Ohio

Greyhound, Hibbing, Minnesota

This is the Greyhound Bus Museum in Hibbing. It was taken on a road trip to photograph railroad landscapes and the Iron Ore mine in Minnesota. A silver and blue bus sits alongside a replica of a bus depot.

From the Heights, Grafton, West Virginia

Dan, Wyalusing, Pennsylvania

I met Dan at this overlook along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. In the background are former fracking sites. Dan related several stories of how the fracking industry has impacted him. He comes up here to practice.

Corpus Christi Church, Buffalo, New York

The Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood in Buffalo is most known as home to Buffalo Central Terminal. It was once a major Polish/Eastern European neighborhood before being a victim of white flight to the suburbs. In the foreground we see lawn chairs and a sign which reads 'keys'.

Steel Mill and Houses, Lackawanna, New York

Memorial to Rainbow Diner, Ulster County, New York

Among the ruins of a burned out roadside diner sits a memorial constructed from its remains.

View of Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Nepera Chemical, Harriman, New York

Razed in 2015, Nepera Chemical is a superfund site and operated from 1942 until 2005. Nepera produced pyridine, used in agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, as well as niacin, a food additive. The American Flag on the tank is symbolic of declining industry.

Jeff, Waverly, West Virginia

Jeff sits under a tree during Spring in West Virginia. Next to him is the General Merchandise store that has been in his family since 1900.

Mountain Holler, Ashe County, North Carolina

Field of Tractors, Greensboro, North Carolina

A Field of Tractors is seen in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Red Shack, West Virginia

The rolling hills of West Virginia are filled with houses and mobile homes in this elevated view. Residential landscapes such as these explore the way we inhabit our environment. The red shack provides a focal point for the image.

Spring, Allegheny Highlands, Pennsylvania

This scene in Western Pennsylvania shows a graveyard and a large tree in the center of the frame under a cloudy bright sky. With a road stretching into the scene and a small shack below the tree, this scene was influenced by Aaron Copland's Appalchian Spring.

Mercer Mall and Church, Bluefield, West Virginia

Mercer Mall and Church are seen at sunset in Mercer County, West Virginia.

Streamliners at Spencer, North Carolina

A view overlooking a special event at the North Carolina Museum of Transportation which included streamlined diesel locomotives.

Drive-In, near Eden, Alabama

A sign I found along the road in Alabama. A large arrow points into the frame, for what might have been a drive-in theater. Stormy clouds move overhead and a cinderblock base sits below the sign.

Screen, Long Island City, New York

A large advertising screen and street lights illuminate the surrounding industrial neighborhood of Long Island City.

Cinderblock Mansion, Florida Keys

This cinderblock mansion in the Florida Keys is constructed to resist storms and flooding. Palm trees flank the house against a stormy grey sky.

Three Men and a Mural, Williamson, West Virginia

Three Men and a Mural, Williamson, West Virginia

Explorers, Egmont Key, Florida

Four boys, two of which are twins, stand infront of Battery McIntosh, a former coastal artillery base of the Endicott period. It is now a national historic site. This portrait was taken on 8x10 inch Kodak E100G film.

West Martello Tower, Key West, Florida

Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida

This is the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Included here are propellor and jet powered aircraft spanning the 20th century.

VFW 8218, Napoleon, Ohio

This Veterans of Foreign Wars sign in Napoleon, Ohio is located adjacent to agricultural structures. This night scene is illuminated with ambient light from surrounding street lamps.

Arthur "The Ohio Walker" Dunn, near Ashtabula, Ohio

Arthur Dunn has walked hundreds of miles across the midwestern United States with his cart which reads "The Lord is my Shepherd." He was walking around Lake Erie when I met him here in 2015.

Spring II, Allegheny Highlands, Pennsylvania

A churchyard and barn are seen in the Allegheny Highlands of Western Pennsylvania.

Livingston, Montana

With a population of 7,000, Livingston Montana is situated north of Yellowstone Park. It was historically a railroad city until the 1980s. Directly below is the historic former Northern Pacific Railroad rail yard and engine shops.

Riders above Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a central desination for offloading Iron-Ore from the Missabe Iron Range onto ships destined for steel mills farther south in Illinois and Ohio. Three bikers are seen infront of the vast industrial and transportation landscape.

Pipeline Clearing, Silver Lake, West Virginia

This opening in the forest and subsequent pathway up the hillside is a clearing made for a pipeline. The midground shows rural buildings and a trailer under overcast skies.

Red Tractor and Lawnscape, Pennsylvania

Chapel Hill Motel, Upper Peninsula, Michigan

Located on the banks of Lake Michigan, the motel is illuminated with the setting sun along U.S. Highway 2. A streetlight strung across the roadway is set against dappled clouds.

Manny's Backyard, Upper Michigan

A tree stump gestures skyward against a cloudy overcast firmament.

Overlook Along Lake Michigan, Indiana Dunes Seashore

Mother and daughter look toward Lake Michigan along the Indiana Dunes National Seashore

Open Pit Iron Mine, Hibbing, Minnesota

This view shows the Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine in Hibbing. With a 1.5-by-3.5-mile footprint and depths up to 600 feet, it is one the largest in the world. In the foreground is a mining museum. Like many scenes, I sought out an elevated 'worldview' viewpoint to explore the surrounding topography with detail.

Stoney, Robertsdale, Alabama

A former A&W Root Beer Mascot stands along Pope Street in Alabama.

Syro Steel Mill, Youngstown, Ohio

A fresh spring rain makes the old steel mill in Youngstown, Ohio, glisten in the light as the storm clears. Youngstown was once played a role in America's steel production, but today is plagued with unemployment. It is central to what is called the rust belt.

Spring, the American Midwest

An empty, colorful playground fronts a Church of Christ centered in the frame. Flanking the scene are cherry blossoms in bloom.

Highway 22, St Louis, Missouri

Along a road are two lightposts reflected in rain puddles on the ground

Romney, West Virginia

A green pool sits at the bottom of a limestone quarry in West Virginia.

The Big Hollow, Albany County, Wyoming

This view from Albany County, Wyoming, shows the Big Hollow, the second largest wind-eroded depression in the world. It is 11 miles long by 4 miles wide.

The Cooke Family, Carbon County, Wyoming

A family of cattle ranchers who live in the shadow of Elk Mountain, a landmark along the Old Overland Trail, in Carbon County, Wyoming.

Station Master's Desk, Saratoga, Wyoming

Railroad station master's desk includes colorful insulators, a telegraph machine and a typewriter.

Willets Point, Queens, New York

En elevated view of Willets Point, otherwise known as the Iron Triangle neighborhood in Queens, New York City. An auto repair center for over forty years, much of the area is now demolished to make way for new construction.

Hillside Cemetery

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Donny is seen here of Clarksdale TV, a TV repair shop that has been in operation since 1938. The business has been in his family since that time.

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Gary King of Wolfe County, Kentucky. Gary runs several businesses including wrecking, concrete and drilling.

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