There is no single reality in the US. Americans all walk through life in bubbles of their own imagining and experience. Postcards from America - inspired in part by Heather Cox Richardson’s daily Letters from an American - is mine.
Yet in some ways Postcards is the opposite of HCR’s approach. First of all, obviously they are photos not writing. They are not comprehensive or objective and my goal is not to celebrate or denigrate or even to specify. They are instinctual not rigorous, indirect not precise, fleeting but still hopefully contain something enduring or revealing. More questions than answers. These will be personal photo dispatches from my years as an observer trying to understand America better and bottle those imaginings.
I’ve always been somewhere between a US critic and idealist. It’s a shame, recently I was more comfortable than ever with my country.
Until… you know.
It will be just the photo, no text other than the place, no dates or explanation. You can form your own ideas and interpretations. I simply want to reflect back a small slice of what has resonated with me in the US, and maybe it will resonate with you. And, translated more broadly if you’re so inclined, a reminder of what America was, is, and can be.
In normal times this might be a harmless or even naive exercise. At the moment, asserting the quiet beauty and intrigue of little everyday American moments (at least as I see them) from the Before-Times feels punk rock. Defiant. Maybe even painful, as they become markers of what we stand to lose, and have already lost. There’s some mourning in that sense but I’m a stubborn optimist. I hope they also offer something to hold on to, to claw back to.
This newsletter had its origins as advocacy for climate action through the arts. Then noticing the steady creep of right-wing thugs on the march. Now here we are, wondering what will become of the American experiment. We are at the barricades. We are the barricades. Anything we can do now to stand up for good is worthwhile. This is one modest thing I’m doing. Hope you enjoy and share it.
A few logistical points:
I will add these photos three times a week for a while to the best of my ability. If HCR can handle writing each day, I think I can do this. You can see them several ways on my website, which I am trying to make as dynamic as possible with weekly updates. A place you may actually like to revisit on a regular basis.
They will appear on my Notebook blog, where you can use RSS to get your daily dose. (I love RSS, I just started using it again with the Feeder app. The RSS link is at top right.)
They will also rotate every other day or so as the nice big lead photo on my homepage (right below where you can check the weather in Greenland) if you prefer to just bookmark billcrandall.com and visit when you want.
Then they cycle into the Postcards from America section of my Projects page, so you can watch the body of work build in real time.
I will probably also add them to the Prints gallery in case you want one.
I won’t send each of them out by email, that would be way too much. I’m thinking I’ll include them as a weekly batch of 3-4, on their own or included in another post.
