America By Another Name:
Photos and Stories of the Road and a History that United Us
Getting the big picture
The photos in America By Another Name emphatically gather into one book American lives from across regions, social classes, religions, gender and sexual identities, and races and ethnicities.
It’s a modern portrait of our land as seen through an antique lens—the name Columbia. (See complete proposal for publication.)
Columbia = United States
In times of crisis, poets, songwriters, and orators forged Columbia into:
Our nation’s poetic nickname, and a symbol for the American ideals of liberty, union, and progress.
A liberty goddess named Lady Columbia (created in 1775 by African American poet Phillis Wheatley).
National anthems like “Hail, Columbia” and “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean.”
Even with these idealistic glimmers, the’s name’s association with Christopher Columbus renders it contested.
The American Road
From Maine to Hawaii, from Alaska to Florida, I’ve driven some 160,000 miles while living in a DIY camper van and photographed in over 65 places named Columbia.
Photographs
By presenting all subjects equitably, these color photographic portraits and landscapes evince the spirit of equality proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. (See gallery.)
Written accounts
Captions and short essays tell stories of the road, and Columbia-related histories portray the good and the bad of our development—even as perpetrated by my direct ancestors.
