I grew up in the Southeastern cities of Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia during the 70’s, a time of major transformations in that region. One of the driving forces of change of the so-called ‘New South’ was the completion of the interstate system. For me, the interstate was a major feature of my youth. My father was a salesman and each week, he left on Monday morning to visit clients, the new industries springing up throughout the Southeast along those new interstates and returned Friday afternoon. Our visits to relatives always included a stint on Interstate 85 and every summer vacation destination was reached via interstates. The explosive growth of the region was shaped by the interstates in the form of shopping malls, subdivisions, and the abandonment of the cities. For me personally, the interstate came to symbolize liberation from a limiting and restrictive culture in rural Georgia and transformation from the confines of childhood to the independence of adulthood. As an adult, I found myself returning to the interstate in times of uncertainty and emotional distress. Bardo is a Tibetan term, meaning ‘the space between’, usually the space between death and rebirth. I find driving on the interstate to be a kind of bardo. The sealed environment of our cars, the high speed of travel, and the limited access of the interstate itself, all serve to separate us from our fellow travelers and the landscape we traverse. In this most common mode of modern travel, I feel I step outside the confines of time and space. In such a place, I can drop out of the narrative of my life and lose myself in an internal journey of contemplation and introspection. Inspired to explore the unique space in American culture, one that has particularly place in the Southeastern region, I have been photographing while I drive on the interstate, creating portraits and landscapes using a camera on a tripod triggered by a remote release. On a broader level, this project is a meditation on the enduring mythic role the road trip has in the American psyche, with its promise that by changing our geography, we can change our lives. it is an intimate look at who we, as Americans are, at this moment in time. In part, this project is inspired by August Sanders’, ‘People of the 20th Century’. Using the random chance offered by who I happen to pass, I provide a ‘snapshot’ of the individuals that comprise the Southeastern United States. The truth of the region includes its wide diversity of ethnicities and cultures but also the universality of our dreams, desires, and fears. On another level, the project addresses the competing human desires for both privacy and connection. We live in a time when we have never prized individuality so highly and yet we have never been so lonely. Cars travel the interstate side by side, just feet apart, yet the passengers experience complete isolation. These portraits record their moments lost in thought or the brief moment of connection when they curiously look back at me. These are photographs of real people having real experiences but intentionally taken out of context to express my personal interpretation of this very American bardo.