Greatings from Cascade Locks, Oregon

Another long drive today, but the stranded business was good. We left Boise and found a couple stuck under an overpass not ten minutes later. The photos from this shoot should be a little different and I am excited to print them.

A short while later we saw a woman and her children stuck in the east bound lane of I-84. We were heading west bound. As is often the case with my Stranded trips I have to search for the next exit and travel in the opposite direction to get the picture. Two steps forward and three steps back. This time the turnaround was worth it. There should be some amazing pictures from this stop. The lady kept jumping a barbed wire fence to fill up a water bottle in an farm aqueduct so she could stop her car from overheating. It was quite the scene.

Several hundred miles later in Oregon we found a guy off the highway in a narrow pass in Lime, Oregon. The scenery was striking and it should be another strong image.

Finally, we hit the Columbia River Gorge and found our final stranded motorist in Rufus, Oregon. He was a long haul trucker trying to deliver his load on time, but hopelessly stuck as his rig was pouring out black smoke.

After two states and close to 400 miles of road in a single day we finally decided to have a nice dinner in lovely Hood River, Oregon. It was good to be a little civilized after three straight days of snacks, road side food, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Tomorrow we are going to tool around the Columbia River Gorge and then make our way to Portland for a couple days of Rose City excitement.

Until tomorrow...

Greetings from Boise, Idaho

Long day yesterday. We drove from Winnemucca, Nevada, to Wells, Nevada, and then up Twin Falls, Idaho, and west to Boise. Many miles and only three stranded motorists. We did stop at the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls and saw the site of Evil Knievel's 1974 jump attempt. There is a lot of beautiful open land out here, but not many stranded motorists.

Today we are going to poke around Boise and then head to Portland.

Greetings from Winnemucca, Nevada

What a day on the road. Here's a quick recap:

Last night we arrived in San Francisco around midnight, rented a car, and headed east toward Sacramento. The plan was to drive for about an hour and then find a hotel. Just outside of Richmond we hit a major traffic jam and only made it to Vallejo. You have to love California.

This morning we left Vallejo and made our way through Folsom. Funny, but every prison town seems to have an outlet mall, too. Just outside of Placerville we found our first stranded motorist, Johnny. Johnny was stuck on a blind curve with a flat and didn't have a jack. He did have a wicked angry clown tattoo on his shoulder, though. After taking some photos we continued to Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe is simply gorgeous, but we had a lot of ground to cover so it was down the mountain to Carson City and Reno. A few miles out of Carson City we found our second stranded motorists, Billy and Janelle. Billy had just bought his car and it was already dead. It was really sad. They had a cute little dog named, Butch. We tried to help, but his car was shot.

Reno is a photo book waiting to happen. It's a ghetto Vegas with so many strange characters there must be a factory pumping them out just outside of town. I am definitely coming back.

The road from Reno to Winnemucca is several hundred miles of the most desolate and beautiful terrain you can imagine. We didn't run into any stranded folks during this leg and that was probably a good thing.

So, here we are in Winnemucca at the Scott Shady Court Motor Lodge after a quick meal at Winner's Casino. Tomorrow we are off to Elko, NV and Twin Falls, ID.

I Love This City, I Hate This City

If you live or work in New York City, then you know how much fun this morning has been. Severe rains have flooded the subway system and crippled the city. I am currently assisting a class at the ICP, but it looks like I won't be able to make it in. I also have about 5000 other things I need to do in the city before I leave for my Stranded trip this Friday and now I am pretty much stuck at home in Jackson Heights. All this and it's hotter than Satan's crotch after a racquetball tournament.

Fun. Fun. Fun. That's the hate part.

The love part--and I have to constantly remind myself of this--is all about the wonderful access to art, music, food, and people you can find no place else in the world. Speaking of art, you only have two days left to see the Road Trip show at Mixed Greens. The show has been a wild success in every sense.

Also on the good stuff list, limited edition prints from Humble Arts Foundation, including Peri, Route 80, Kentucky, currently on display at Mixed Greens. There are only ten prints available and you can pick one up for a real steal. Plus, you are supporting Humble Arts Foundation. Wins all around.

UPDATE: R.C. Baker of the Village Voice recommends the Mixed Greens show and gives a shout out to the Stranded photos.

Humble Arts Foundation Offering Limited Editioned Prints

Peri, Route 80, Kentucky 2006 © Amy Stein

Starting today Humble Arts Foundation will be offering small editioned, signed prints from three photographers: Corey Arnold, Jessica Roberts, and your's truly. The purchase of the prints will help support Humble's mission of advancing the careers of emerging fine art photographers. The prints are priced to move, so you better grab one (or two) quickly. Seriously, this is a very good deal and a great way to support an exceptional arts organization.

Battle Photo: Jump!

© Bill Owens

vs.

© Zoe Strauss

Stranded Tour Hits the Northwest

2007 © Amy Stein

Next Saturday I will be heading west for the next leg of my Stranded series. For eight days I will be driving the highways of northern California and Nevada, southern Idaho, and most of Oregon searching for stranded motorists.

As I've mentioned before, making pictures for this series is hard work and there is great deal of chance involved. Hopefully, the many miles traveled (almost 2000 for this trip) will produce some quality photos to fill out the series. It's a weird thing to set off hoping you will find someone whose car has broken down. I don't think it technically qualifies as schadenfreude, but it comes close.

Beyond traveling the hard miles on hot asphalt with my Mamiya by my side, I am looking forward to experiencing the wide open landscape of the west and visiting the fantastically livable Portland, Oregon. I have been to the Rose City before and loved it, but this time I am excited to spend time with new friends Corey Arnold and Laura Moya of Photolucida.

I will be posting periodically from the road, so stay tuned for spirited tales of adventure, mystery, and intrigue from the left coast of America.