Arthur Grace is a photographer who knows how to get his point across. Working as a wire service photographer in the 1970s trained him to sum up situations with a neutral, direct photographic language. This book is not a collection of retread journalistic pictures but a vision of a photographer with a statement to make.

Typically, America is shown in books as a road trip a photographer may have made, or as a colorfully sentimental place. In this book Grace uses wit and humor to point out the small quirks of America, politicians and the landscape. Middle and rural America is well represented here.

The book starts with extreme scenes from the Boston busing crisis in the middle 1970s. Grace reminds us that America has moments in history that cause pain. He takes us along the edges of the political circus and down country roads to the America more people live in, but is not always highlighted.


The book is sized appropriately. Pictures play off each other adding to the experience and statement Grace is making. The star covered endpapers are nice touch. With grey being dominant color, we are seeing an America that is not just blue or red, to use 2012 terms. It is a wide tonal range of America. By using black and white Grace is taking out the emotionalism and sentimentality of color.

Grace demonstrates a way of picture making that is not often seen today. Photojournalism and documentary photography has become more visually aware of itself. Grace comes from a time and place where content is king and overt technique is for the court jesters. Times have changed and overt technique and aesthetics seem to matter more than content filled pictures with a subtle message. This book is a rallying cry for those that care about content. —Tom Leininger