How America’s Most Cherished Photographer Learned to See
Stephen Shore wasn’t the first to mythologize the American journey; he followed the footsteps of photographers like Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Garry Winogrand, and Jack Kerouac. However, he was the first in a different aspect.
Before the Instagram era, when people weren’t inclined to photograph their meals and baths, Shore turned it into an art form. His diary-like approach influenced photographers like Martin Parr, Nan Goldin, and others, opening the door to a new type of documentary photography—as if taken from a private family album.
Stephen Shore has been photographing for over half a century. He compares photography to another favorite activity: “Photography, like fishing, is an art that requires intellect, concentration, and delicacy.” He started shooting from childhood, and at the age of 14, he even sold some of his works to the Metropolitan Museum. His name gained recognition when, in the early 1970s, he began traveling across the United States, capturing colorful shots of motel room numbers, roadside diners, parking lots, and other “memorable objects and impressions.”
