Growing up in Germany, I have always been fascinated with the American landscape. Unlike Germany, the United States is an expansive country and there is no better way to experience it than by going on a road trip. Between the big cities, there are miles and miles of nothing - or so it seems when you have to traverse from one coast to another in as little time as possible. What I have come to discover is that when I slow down my time between destinations, the quiet beauty of America reveals itself.
On a recent road trip through the California desert in July, I loaded my old Volvo with cameras, film, and my good friend and fellow photographer Tom Munroe. We didn't have a specific destination or artistic goal in mind, but we wanted to explore the nothingness between forgotten towns. It was like a fishing trip for photography. If we were lucky, we would catch something, otherwise we would still have a good time and a cold beer or two.
This was as much a journey of friendship as it was about photography, and what came out of this simple vacation filled with, at first glance, unremarkable places and people, was a profound reverence for all that we stumbled upon. We weren't prepared for the beauty and the soulful quality of the people and places we encountered and we came away filled with a new respect for slowing down, pulling over, and taking the time to focus.
© Bernd Reinhardt 2011