American Geography

Awardwinning photographer Matt Black traveled over 100,000 miles to chronicle the reality of todays unseen and forgotten America.When Magnum photographer Matt Black began exploring his hometown in Californias rural Central Valleydubbed the other California, where onethird of the population lives in povertyhe knew what his next project had to be. Black was inspired to create a vivid portrait of an unknown America, to photograph some of the poorest communities across the US. Traveling across fortysix states and Puerto Rico, Black visited designated poverty areas, places with a poverty rate above 20 percent, and found that poverty areas are so numerous that theyre never more than a twohours drive apart, woven through the fabric of the country but cut off from the land of opportunity. American Geography is a visual record of this fiveyear, 100,000mile road trip, which chronicles the vulnerable conditions faced by Americas poor.This compelling compilation of blackandwhite photographs is accompanied by Blacks own traveloguea collection of observations, overheard conversations in cafes and public transportation, diner menus, bus timetables, historical facts, and snippets from daily news reports. A future classic of photography, this monograph is supported by an international touring exhibition and is a musthave for anyone with an interest in witnessing the reality of an America thats been excluded from the American Dream. 105 blackandwhite illustrations