First published 2018
Edward Keating carries his camera along the crumbling asphalt of Route 66, capturing what remains of America's Mother Road. Born in 1956, the Pulitzer Prize winner spent eleven years photographing the highway's decay from 2000 to 2011. The interstate system had already bypassed Route 66 in the 1950s, strangling the flow of travelers and dollars that once sustained thousands of businesses. Keating watches as trade agreements ship jobs overseas while Mexican workers travel east and American job seekers head west, all crossing paths on this forgotten stretch of pavement. His mother's stories from Saint Louis echo in his mind, tales of his grandfather selling Model A Fords when the road buzzed with prosperity. Now Keating documents the people who traveled its length and those who stayed behind, stranded where their cars broke down or their dreams ran out of gas.
Genres: non-fiction, photography, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: documentary, social-commentary
Setting: America, Mexico, Route 66, Saint Louis
Period: 1950s, 2000-2011
176 pages · Hardcover · Damiani