PHOTO:The Open Road

Jacob Holdt, Alabama, © Jacob Holdt, Courtesy of the artist and Detroit Institute of Arts
Jacob Holdt, Alabama, © Jacob Holdt, Courtesy of the artist and Detroit Institute of Arts

The first successful road trip in U.S.A. by automobile took place in 1903 by H. Nelson Jackson and Sewall K. Crocker. The first woman to cross the American landscape by car was Alice Ramsey with three female passengers in 1909, she left from New York and traveled 59 days to San Francisco.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Detroit Institute of Arts Archive

The ‘50s saw rapid growth of ownership of automobiles by American families. The automobile, now a trusted mode of transportation, was being widely used for not only commuting, but leisure trips as well. “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across America. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use. The exhibition “The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip”, features 70 photographs by 19 photographers, beginning with Robert Frank’s groundbreaking photographs from his 1955 book “The Americans” to contemporary works by artists such as: Justine Kurland. Other photographers include: Ed Ruscha, Garry Winogrand, Inga Morath, Joel Sternfeld and Alec Soth.  After World War II, the American road trip began appearing in literature, music, movies and photography. Cars, buses, motels, campsites, diners, signs, gas stations and everyday people fascinated photographers much as the American frontier had engaged artists of previous generations. In addition to Robert Frank, other photographers embarked on road trips specifically to create a body of work, such as Ed Ruscha, whose trips between Los Angeles and Oklahoma formed the basis of his 1963 “Twentysix Gasoline Stations” photographs. Those continuing the tradition include Stephen Shore, Taiyo Onorato, Nico Krebs and Ryan McGinley.

Info: Curators: David Campany and Denise Wolff, Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Duration: 17/6-11/9/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Thu 9:00-16:00, Fri 9:00-20:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-17:00, http://www.dia.org

Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Broken Street Line, 2008, © Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Courtesy of the artists, RaebernonStenglin-Zurich. Peter Lav-Copenhagen and Detroit Institute of Arts
Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Broken Street Line, 2008, © Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Courtesy of the artists, RaebernonStenglin-Zurich. Peter Lav-Copenhagen and Detroit Institute of Arts

 

 

Justine Kurland, Claire 8th Ward, 2012, © Justine Kurland, Courtesy Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery-New York and Detroit Institute of Arts
Justine Kurland, Claire 8th Ward, 2012, © Justine Kurland, Courtesy Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery-New York and Detroit Institute of Arts

 

 

Joel Meyerowitz, Florida, 1970, © Joel Meyerowitz, Courtesy of the artist, Howard Greenberg Gallery-New York and Detroit Institute of Arts
Joel Meyerowitz, Florida, 1970, © Joel Meyerowitz, Courtesy of the artist, Howard Greenberg Gallery-New York and Detroit Institute of Arts

 

 

Inge Morath, Outside Memphis, Tennessee, 1960, © Inge Morath/Magnum Photos, Courtesy Detroit Institute of Arts
Inge Morath, Outside Memphis, Tennessee, 1960, © Inge Morath/Magnum Photos, Courtesy Detroit Institute of Arts

 

 

Stephen Shore, U.S. 97 - South of Klamath Falls, Oregon, 21/7/73, © Stephen Shore, Courtesy of the artist, 303 Gallery, New York and Detroit Institute of Arts
Stephen Shore, U.S. 97 – South of Klamath Falls, Oregon, 21/7/73, © Stephen Shore, Courtesy of the artist, 303 Gallery, New York and Detroit Institute of Arts

 

 

Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Wires, 2006, © Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Courtesy of the artists, RaebernonStenglin-Zurich, Peter Lav-Copenhagen and Detroit Institute of Arts
Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Wires, 2006, © Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Courtesy of the artists, RaebernonStenglin-Zurich, Peter Lav-Copenhagen and Detroit Institute of Arts

 

 

Todd Hido, #6097, 2007. © Todd Hido, Courtesy of the artist, Bruce Silverstein Gallery-New York and Detroit Institute of Arts
Todd Hido, #6097, 2007. © Todd Hido, Courtesy of the artist, Bruce Silverstein Gallery-New York and Detroit Institute of Arts