Roadside Redemption / Statement of Work
Roadside Redemption began four years ago, while I was driving to south Georgia on assignment. I pulled into a truck stop, in the dark, wee hours, of the morning to sleep. When I woke, and climbed out of my Expedition, the first thing I saw was a semi trailer parked, with the words “Truckers Chapel” painted across the side. Two doors were positioned on the side of the trailer. Three, or four wooden steps led from the pavement to a small lattice work porch at the base of each door.
I was intrigued but what I was seeing, and questions began running through my head. Eventually, on dozens of subsequent roadtrips throughout the United States, I began seeing billboards that touted Bible scripture, or things like “Hell is Real”, or, “If You Died Today Where Would You Spend Eternity”.
Initially I became angry, as they brought up my issues from the past. But soon I began to ask myself “why”. Why were these billboards being erected? Was it out of hope, or out of fear? Or was it just out of arrogance? I wanted to know. Hence, Roadside Redemption was born.
In the years to follow, as billboards became more and more abundant, I began photographing them. Soon I met the man who was instrumental in having the majority of the billboards created, and he was gracious enough to grant me an interview.
Now, at its completion, Roadside Redemption is a photographic exhibition of twenty-one large format, black & white, photographs, as well as an accompanying video. The exhibition is presented without bias. It is presented to create a dialog with each viewer. There are no right, or wrong, perceptions. It is solely about the personal experience.