“Simply Nutritious Morning Blend,” 2008.
Justine Kurland, photographer and BFA Photo faculty was recently featured on The New Yorker website, alongside an article she wrote entitled Six Years on the Road, as an Artist and a Mother. The article describes her journey trekking across the United States over a span of 6 years with her young son, Casper:
We crossed the country many, many times. Our migrations followed the weather, so that the barefoot pleasures of summer could extend as long as possible into the winter months. We climbed rocks in the desert and trees in the forest, built forts out of sticks, and spiced our mud pies with pine needles. A bump in the road would jostle an assortment of glass jars, spilling insect specimens onto the floor of the van. The next day, we would wake up with ladybugs in our hair; I discovered that they bite. Casper thought it was normal—thought other mamas loaded sheet film at McDonald’s, other kids stacked rocks while their parents composed scenes. On waking from a nap in his car seat, he might ask me, “Where are we, Mama? Are we shopping for views?” Or, pointing out a van along the way, he would inquire, “Who lives in that Mama Car?” Often, people thought we were homeless and offered us food or money. Other parents would pull their children away from us in playgrounds: “Suzy,” they would say, “come play over here.”
Her work is also a part of an upcoming photo book published by Aperture.
