DEAR ROBERT,
“Dear Robert,” is both an homage to the pivotal 1958 photo essay “The Americans” (by Robert Frank) and a contemporary documentary essay on present-day America. The project follows Frank’s 10,000-mile route around America providing an incisive look at the cultural, racial, economic, and political issues that are defining the landscape of the United States. It also creates a dialog between present and past. Each of the 83 photos in “Dear Robert” is a response to one of Frank’s 83 photos, and the photos are sequenced as they are presented in “The Americans.” This encourages the viewer to volley back and forth between the two bodies of work, challenging us to consider how history, economics, race, politics and gender have shaped one of the most influential nations in the world.
This work was featured in The Washington Post Magazine's 2022 photography issue, "The Photo Issue: The Real Americana."