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Phaidon Press
July 2008
On Sale: June 25, 2008
256 pages
ISBN: 0714848018
EAN: 9780714848013
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Photography
Stephen Shore is one of the most influential photographers
of the twentieth century, best known for his photographs of
vernacular America taken in the early 1970s two bodies of
work entitled American Surfaces and Uncommon Places. These
projects paved the way for future photographers of
the 'ordinary' and 'everyday' such as Martin Parr, Thomas
Struth, and Nan Goldin. Shore is one of the most important
artists working today, and his prints are included in
collections of eminent museums and galleries around the
world. On July 3, 1973, Stephen Shore set out on the road again.
This road trip marked an important point in his career, as
he was coming to the tail end of American Surfaces and
embarking on a body of work that is known as Uncommon
Places. While traveling, in addition to taking photographs,
Shore also distributed a set of postcards that he had made
and printed himself. While passing through Amarillo, Texas,
Shore selected ten of his own photographs of places of
note, such as Doug's Barb-B-Que and the Potter County Court
House, and designed the back of the cards to look like a
typical generic postcard. He sent these images to a well-
known postcard printer and ordered 5,600 copies of each
card. Then, driving from town to town, Shore
surreptitiously inserted his own cards into postcard racks
in stores across the country, mixing his own work
with 'real' postcards and giving unsuspecting shopkeepers
new stock free of charge. In a deadpan, unemotional style, Shore's month-long journal
itemizes where he stayed, what he ate, which television
programs he watched, what photographs he took, how many
miles he drove, and how many postcards he distributed on
each day of his trip. The journal also includes postcards
of the towns where he stayed as well as some of his own
photographs alongside hotel, restaurant, and gas station
receipts. As he traveled, recording his experiences in his
journal, Shore photographed the towns and cities through
which he passed, the people he met, the food he ate, the
beds he slept in, and even the toilets he 'encountered',
from New York to California and back again. A Road Trip Journal marks the turning point between two
major bodies of work in Shore's career and includes some
classic portraits from this pioneering color photographer.
Each page of the journal is reproduced exactly and bound in
a book that matches the format of the original book down to
its cover. Following this, every photograph taken over the
course of the trip is also featured, whether a perfect
composition or a slightly fogged negative of the same
scene. A map marks Shore's journey and his own text on the
history of the road trip in America is also included. The
book also contains reproductions of a number of postcards
that Shore made on his trip, allowing the reader the chance
to tear them out and use them, or keep them as a piece of
1970s Shore memorabilia. A Road Trip Journal is a highly collectible publication for
any photo book collector, photography enthusiast or
student, or anyone with an interest in American culture of
the 1970s. This limited edition book numbered and signed by
the photographer is an exciting addition to Phaidon's ever-
growing, highly popular Shore list.
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