Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Esther Bubley, Emil Otto Hoppé… The pioneers of photography feature in the new exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM), located in the heart of the second-largest city in the state of Missouri. Curator Eric Lutz, associate curator of prints, drawings, and photographs at the American institution, immerses us in the spirit of the road, a timeless symbol of American culture.
The exhibition “In Search of America: Photography and the Road Trip” thus explores how the medium, the automobile, and the roadways revolutionized modern life in America and have remained deeply intertwined ever since. More than that, it shows how artists were guided and shaped by these ribbons of asphalt.
Faces and roads
“Every journey is an adventure. Our country is made for long treks,” declared Stephen Shore, one of the major figures in American imagery, in his first book devoted to the photographic road trip. For over a century, the concept of the road journey has fueled the fascination of all these image-makers with the vernacular and social landscape of America. Between documentary work, artifacts of road culture, and desert landscapes of the Southwest, SLAM brings together genuine “national treasures” through more than a hundred works, half of which come from its collection.
The display includes iconic works by Dorothea Lange – her long-term series on the Great Depression – by Walker Evans (American Photographs, 1938), by Robert Frank (The Americans, 1958), and Edward Weston – his photographic illustration of the special edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1942).
Other standard-bearers were drawn to new towns and natural landscapes, focusing their gaze on shops and architectural elements along roads and highways. “Lee Friedlander showed his affinity for the everyday clutter of poles, electric wires, streetlights, parking lots, and commercial buildings lining typical American streets, often overlooked,” explains Eric Lutz. “Meanwhile, what Jim Dow called ‘America roadscape’ included gas stations, diners, motels, drive-in theaters, neon signs, and roadside attractions like dinosaur sculptures.”
Views in the shadows
The museum also showcases works by lesser-known but equally important photographers in road imagery. Take Esther Bubley (1921–1998), for example. A protégé of Roy Stryker, then head of the historical section of the Farm Security Administration (FSA), she made a name for herself during the golden age of photojournalism. She is known, among other things, for her series Bus Story (1947), highlighting the role of long-distance bus travel in American life.
This section thus marks the contribution of women in the early 20th century, despite the practical difficulties and prejudices from their male counterparts. The work of Marion Post Wolcott (1910–1990), supported by photographers Ralph Steiner and Paul Strand, is also on display. “She often traveled alone and drove at night to complete her assignments for the FSA,” says Eric Lutz. “She had to navigate poorly marked roads, find safe places to sleep, and maintain her camera and car.”
Also featured are works by Russell Lee (1903–1986). Like his FSA peers mentioned earlier – Lange and Evans – this former chemical engineer turned photographer traveled the country’s backroads to document the major changes brought by the Great Depression, segregation, and World War II. Visitors will also find pieces by Ben Shahn (1898–1969), Steve Fitch (1949–), Frank Gohlke (1942–), Joel Sternfeld (1944–), and even several anonymous photographs from the 1910s.
A changing landscape
Emil Otto “E.O.” Hoppé (1878–1972) is given particular prominence. A pioneer of portraiture, travel, and topography, he was the first to conduct a transcontinental photographic study. He crossed the United States in 1926, visiting over 120 cities and regions – from Eastern steel mills to the desert landscapes of the Southwest. “This is the first museum presentation of his series since it was completed nearly a century ago,” emphasizes Eric Lutz.
In his work, Hoppé was as fascinated by highways, cars, Ford factories, bridges, skyscrapers, and oil extraction as he was by Native American communities and natural environments. “His excursion to Rainbow Bridge in remote Glen Canyon, Utah, was, according to the artist, the highlight of his journey. It is one of the world’s largest natural stone bridges and remained unknown outside Indigenous groups until 1909.”
The exhibition reminds us that in the 1920s, many roads were still unpaved, and maps were localized and poorly detailed. His views and road trips culminated in Romantic America (1927), one of the most richly illustrated photographic books about the United States to this day.
The road, continued
“In Search of America” continues its journey into the 21st century with Catherine Opie. While known for her portraits of San Francisco’s gay and lesbian community, road culture is a constant in her work. Through Freeways (1994–1995), she captured empty highways around her Los Angeles home. Here, however, the exhibition features a piece from her Domestic series (1998), in which she traveled more than 9,000 miles across the U.S., photographing lesbian couples and families in their everyday lives – a testament to “the glaring absence of such images in traditional representations.”
Finally, two works by Kelli Connell, from her book Pictures for Charis (2024), offer an artistic dialogue with predecessors. She provides a more introspective gaze, revisiting the relationship between photographer Edward Weston and writer Charis Wilson through their book California and the West (1940), which explores the Golden State in every season. From her obsession with Wilson was born this journey she undertook with her partner Betsy to the same locations where the couple had lived and worked, recounting her life against a shifting cultural landscape.
Between past and present, “In Search of America” reaffirms the ongoing interest of photographers in the rise of road culture, where encounters shape both history and imagination. The exhibition also features films, music, and a multimedia concert, The Open Road: Sonic Landscapes, designed by Chamber Project St. Louis.
“In Search of America: Photography and the Road Trip” runs from May 2 to November 2, 2025, at the Saint Louis Art Museum in galleries 235 and 234 of the Sidney S. and Sadie M. Cohen wing.
