© Roei Greenberg, 'Monument Valley, AZ' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

Hi Roei, could you introduce the motivations behind your new series "Nothing New in the West"?

Roei Greenberg (RG): Hi Steve, great to be speaking with you again with a new work to digest! The simple answer to the question of the motivation behind the work is the journey itself. The experience of being on the road, encountering new places and adventures, there is no other situation where I feel more alive and inspired. And what better place to take a long road trip then the American west?
The longer answer is that I had experienced a dramatic shift in my personal life, which left me very confused as to which direction my life is going (on all aspect of practical life), and my great friend from America, Adam Dolle, suggested I should leave it all behind and join him and Peggy (his dog who appear in some of the images) on a month long road trip to the West and back. So the motivation is a combination of an escape from the pain (or at least an attempt), and a realization of a dream I had for many years, to make work on the roads in America!

© Roei Greenberg, 'Flood, Utah' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

© Roei Greenberg, 'CruiseAmerica, Utah' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

© Roei Greenberg, 'Dream Catcher, AZ' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

How much does American landscape photography resonate in your own work or break from it? The Internet exposes specific scenarios to the extent that it may seem that we have already been to some places, even if that is not true. How did you deal with this pitfall of the "déjà vu"?

RG: American landscape photography was always a source of inspiration and reference in my practice. From the early work of Timothy H. O'Sullivan to Walker Evans, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld and later the work of Alec Soth... I always found myself drawn to the idea of the journey itself as part of the photographic work. Back in Israel, I was traveling back and forth on one road that stretch all the way from the northernmost to southern border. 470 km which I kept photographing for many years. When I moved to London, I traversed the English countryside repeatedly, ‘mapping’ my new geography to generate a sense of familiarity and belonging... So yes, The American Road trip always resonate in my work, but there was always a sense of irony making such work in a small country like Israel, and later in English countryside which is very far from being wild or natural.
The pitfall of the "déjà vu" was a source for a lot of anxiety. As much as I always dreamed of such opportunity, I did question throughout the time we spent on the road; what is the point of making images in such places which are already oversaturated with visual representation. But the same pitfall is also the conceptual driving engine for the work, it is a challenge that I had to continually confront.

© Roei Greenberg, from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

SB: There is a sense of expectation that differs from contemplation in this series of images. As if something was going to happen: a buffalo clearing the way, a fly interrupting an iconic vision, a road blocked? We are faced with unforeseen events, "glitches" in the common perception that show a crack in an idealized and perhaps now stale narration...

RG: “glitches” is a good way to describe a lot of those images. The juxtaposition of familiar situations, framed with a sense for dramatic irony. You mention a sense of expectation rather than contemplation and It is interesting that I took with me the usual 4x5 equipment but ended up working mainly with digital. I realized that the strength of the work I was making was in those moments which I could not capture with the heavy and slow large format.

© Roei Greenberg, 'No Mexico, New Mexico' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

© Roei Greenberg, 'Holy City, OK' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

In the undergrowth of your work filters the echo of a militant hint, a political tension. A suggestion to recognize, or at least research, the complexity behind a landscape, as Andreas Gursky also suggests in a positive comment on your previous work "English Encounters" (previous interview on this series available here)...

RG: Thank you Steve, always nice to receive feedback that the work is succeeding in doing what I wish it could. I can just add that the element in the work that allow the complexity and tension to filter through, in my believe at-least, is the excitement of actually being in the landscape and the urge to make alluring visuals. There are many images that highlight the political, militant, manhandled and conflicted landscapes... The challenge as I see it, is to find the balance between seduction and alienation, which create the tension you mentioned.

"American First" is a slogan in one of your images. Yet from your trip to the West, there seems to be nothing new. How much of an issue does this represent?

RG: It is an issue of-course. What is the point in making work if it cannot bring anything new to the table? Is it a reason to not make work? Maybe... In a way, the title “Nothing New in the West” is an admission of defeat. Both of the American narrative of superiority and of my own attempt to ‘conquer’ that heavily saturated topic.

© Roei Greenberg, 'USS Arizona, NV' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022 

© Roei Greenberg, 'Hero, TX' from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022

Let's go back to photography. There is much discussion about where it is going, pushed by the turbulent media currents. Yet, in your work, a resilient attitude to trends and leaps forward bears witness to an intrinsic strength of this extraordinary means of reproducing the visible. How do you ponder your slow process of creation with the tricky urgency of exposure?

RG: I am interested in the discussion about where photography is going. But to some extent, there is nothing new here either... Yes, the technology is new and evolving in the way it is used but that question about photography as a tool to represent truth? I think you framed it nicely, photography for me is an extraordinary means of reproducing the visible. And the visible suggest that you have be able to see and respond to something. It goes back to the question of ones motivation, and for me the motivation is to be out there in the world. To meet and experience real encounters with places, people and ideas.

© Roei Greenberg from the series 'Nothing New in The West', 2022 

Going back to your previous question, the one thing that is new in this body of work is my own experience; an unbelievable adventure which I hope to be able to continue one day soon!

LINKS

Roei Greenberg (website)