© Visions of America by Joseph Sohm
“Thirty years; 10,000 days; 1,000 motel stays; 1,000 nights in an RV; countless tires; 1 million miles traveled;” 1,300 images and 21 essays published brings us to “Visions of America” by Joseph Sohm. Talk about an adventure!
Joseph Sohm set out on a mission to photography democracy and traveled across all 50 states to capture what makes America. Along the way he photographed every ‘Welcome To…’ sign into each state as well personalized license plates from many states. He found urban and country. Rich and poor. Black and white.
I read this book from two aspects: a budding photographer and an American. I was touched deeply from both angles. As a photographer, the images spoke to me from technical and emotional standpoints. The richness of the landscapes, the emotions of the people, the history behind the images. As an American, the people and places captured rang true from what I picture our country to be about.
People from every race have been captured. The impact of Native Americans and African Americans has been chronicled here. The dreams and aspirations of our founding fathers is explored as well as how politics has changed and shaped our country. Simple country images that make me long for a long ago way of life.
Joseph Sohm also shares essays about how he captured certain photos, his state of mind during the process, and some history to enrich his stories. Not only is he a great photographer but a great storyteller. At one point he speaks about photographing Mt. Rushmore and he sees a man on top of one of the presidents. He tells of yelling “Please get off Abraham Lincoln!” I laughed out loud but I could almost hear him yelling this plea.
© Visions of America by Joseph Sohm
“Visions of America” was awarded the Gold Medal (IPPY) for the 13th annual Independent Book Publishers Awards for best coffee tabletop book. Joseph Sohm has been published over 50,000 times in such places as the NY Times, National Geographic, and thousands of books.
This is a big book-showing the depth of committment Sohm had for his vision of America. It took awhile to really go through and enjoy but it is so worth the time. I highly recommend picking up this book. It is something that I feel will be a great addition to our tools of history for generations to come.
Visions of America: Photographing Democracy
Hardcover: 312 pages
Publisher: Visions of America, LLC; First edition (January 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0970795718
ISBN-13: 978-0970795717
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