The Growing Road
In March of 2021, I was applying for jobs on LinkedIn when I came across a listing for a Director of Photography position. The production was called “The Story of Art in America”, a ten episode docuseries about art in America. Not thinking I would get the gig, I applied. In early May I had my zoom interview and was accepted to be the Director of Photography for the production. This would be my first traveling documentary gig as a DOP and to say I was excited is an understatement. In the interview they detailed how the docuseries would consist of a twenty day road trip across the Western part of the United States, where we would be traveling to six cities and interviewing over 50 artists along the way. The series would start in Seattle, then move on to Everett WA, Great Falls MT, Coeur d’Alene ID, Sheridan WY, and finally Casper WY. We did three interviews everyday with B.Roll as well and production days would usually end around 5-6pm, which is when I would explore wherever we were on that day with my two cameras. Sundays were also off days where we could spend the whole day doing whatever we wanted. During the 20 day production I experienced six cities I had never been to before, met dozens and dozens of artists and city officials, and made over 5,000 combined photos on my Leica Q and Canonet QL-17 GIII. These are some of my favorite stories, experiences and photographs from the trip. I hope you enjoy the journey.