Interstate Exits

Shot entirely around the interstates of Kentucky, this work ruminates on the things we drive straight past.

When interstate development began, neighborhoods were cut in half. Communities that were forced out by the roads reformed around exit ramps, slowly setting up new businesses and homes while traffic raged on alongside them.

Now, countless people stop for a few minutes at places that have lived entire lifetimes. Cars transport droves of people in every direction. They’re everywhere in an exit: sitting in drive-throughs, resting near gas pumps, broken down on the side of the road.

While conducting interviews at exits across the state, I met a mother and daughter traveling hundreds of miles for a quilt show, two friends with a broken car, truckers, gas station attendants, and more. While taking pictures and having conversations at a gas station owned by my uncle, I was struck by how everyone, from the long-time employee to the man getting his gas, had a story leading them to this exit. With these photographs, I hope to document the lives built around little stops off the road and illustrate that even though some people stay and some will be miles away by the end of the night, there are still roads connecting us.