Backroads to Outer Space is my ongoing documentary of Space Age roadside Americana. I've made more than a dozen road trips throughout the United States and Canada, seeking out and photographing vernacular expressions related to space exploration and the future. As an extension of Space Age Museum, this work documents relics in their native landscapes before they vanish. Usually created in a spirit of playful advertising or artistic expression, I've found that the architecture, signage, yard art, playground equipment, memorials and observatories all connect to cosmic universal themes. In exploring the variety of expressions I've encountered in my journeys, I see how all types of diverse people engage in unifying questions around how we confront the vast unknown universe and humanity's future. Whether it's homemade or commercially constructed, I'm drawn to any folk renderings of outer space, rockets, flying saucers, UFOs, extra-terrestrials, robots, astronomy, NASA, science fiction, and the people that engage with them as either creators or viewers. Traveling through these space themed landscapes in my spaceship, a 1980's Toyota Van, has been part of my own personal science-fiction adventure of space exploration and discovery.
I am eager to continue expanding this project so that I can capture more landmarks before they disappear, and also share my work with a larger audience. I am seeking support to do a thorough survey of the U.S. with more extensive research on the road. I'm looking to show my work in galleries and publish a book, as well as produce video to show what it's like traveling to these locations and interacting with the interesting people I encounter along the way. While America has been the most accessible area for me to research so far, my aim is to take this quest internationally and capture the ways humans from all corners of the planet engage in creative visions of a future in outer space.
Please contact me if you have any sightings to share or would like to collaborate. Here is a sample of my work, a more extensive portfolio is available upon request.
