Day 2 of the Hwy 80 project

Can I ask you a question or are you gonna shoot me?

Taking rural route 80 across America instead of the fast interstates would set forth a chain of images I could have never imagined. The images themselves are not particularly earth shattering, and the concept is nothing new. Avedon did it a long time ago and many before him. It's the fact that all of the 61 portraits I made are connected.

The portraits above are a conversation piece.

Otha was shooting an armadillo in his yard in Georgia when we met. I rolled my window down and yelled "Can I ask you a question or are you gonna shoot me?" He yelled back "NO". I guess I need to simplify my questions when a man has a shotgun in his hand.

Jim was the father-in-law of Keith, who you will meet a little later. Jim came into mop up the blood off of the meat processing floors and to generally find something to do. He was excited to wear his hat for a photo. According to Jim he had been asked to leave and never come back to several of the local stores in the area because it offended so many people. "I just like to wear it to ruffle feathers, now I guess"