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.