AMERICAN DREAMS
American Dreams is the story of rediscovering the United States and its multiple facets. It’s both a photography book and a 400 page travel memoir of personal essays and short stories born of a solo 4000 mile bicycle trip across the U.S.. The books document my internal journey (shattering prejudice and opening my mind), and my external journey (through a vast landscape of extraordinary diversity).
In the Spring of 2017, I went on a spontaneous 4000 mile solo bicycle trip across the United States after living and working in NYC for six years. From my bicycle’s seat, I discovered the country and its people from a radically different perspective. My immense physical and emotional vulnerability encouraged people to open up to me so much more than I had ever experienced before.
For the first time, I wasn’t in control. I wasn’t deciding where to stop, when to stop, and whom to stop. Other people were.
Observer at times, I was constantly pushed to participate. Invited to interact.
This tension between my position of both observer and participant is reflected in the different media I use in the project.
Be it in the photography book or in the travel memoir, American Dreams is a dialogue between myself and the people met on the road.
I want the project to have a critical dimension, yet, simultaneously convey my love for the place. I want to portrait America’s hurdles and hopes at the same time. Using humour, I want to convey in each photograph, each series, and each text, both unease and endearment.
I am currently in the process of editing the manuscript and will then be submitting it to literary agents and looking for a publishing house.
The photo book is composed of 340 photographs taken from 2011 to 2018.