In Search of America — David Robert Farmerie

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The in Search of America Project

The Unhoused

Standing Rock

Dark Fired Tobacco

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Statement of Work

Editorial Commissions

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Contact Me

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I met this man, dressed to the nines in honor of the momentous day of celebration and homage, wearing a beige trench coat and an ascot cap. He was standing on the steps of the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, on Broad Street. I approached him, a

My awareness was guided to this preacher who stopped at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, after making his pilgrimage walk across, and back again. It wasn’t just the awareness of him standing there. It was the acute awareness of his posture, and

I noticed this young African-American boy, dressed in a suit, and tie, emerging from the bridge. This awareness afforded me the time to watch, and study the scene as it unfolded, so that I could position myself in the best possible way to capture th

Blues Highway Visitor Center (Copy) (Copy)

Painted Facade/Indianola, Mississippi (Copy) (Copy)

Nickson's Juke Joint / Tunica, Mississippi (Copy) (Copy)

I had heard of "quilting circles" but had never witnessed one until now. It is the quintessential community activity. Every week, women in Arnaudville, Louisiana, gather at the Arnaudville Art Center to sit around a large table and create a quilt.

Crawfishing is a vibrant tradition deeply ingrained in the fabric of Louisiana's heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation. But crawfishing isn't merely about the catch—it's a way of life. It's about community, family, and a

Checking the Crawfish Traps at Sunrise (Copy) (Copy)

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier/Grafton, West Virginia (Copy) (Copy)

A Salute of Deep Reverence (Copy) (Copy)

Along a desolate two-lane highway that leads to the rim of the Grand Canyon, small merchant stands are set up in a large dirt parking lot carved out of the barren landscape.

This Dine’ (Navajo) artisan carves line drawings on pieces of flat local stone - much in the same method of those who carved the petroglyphs thousands of years ago.

Helen Grayeyes, a traditional Dine’s (Navajo) woman who 94 years old at the time of this photograph. Every morning she ‘wakes, gets dressed, feeds the dogs, runs one mile down her road and back again, then herds her sheep’. Helen speaks no English,

Alice, who is Dine’ (Navajo) makes traditional Fry Bread in Helen’s kitchen. Fry Bread is common among many of the Indigenous tribes of the United States, and is a staple of their diet.

Jackson, who was thirteen years old at the time of this photograph, is a Lakota Fancy Dancer. His specific title is Grass Dancer. Fancy Dancers are part of the Lakota reviving their traditions.

Jackson is a Lakota Fancy Dancer, and his persona is a Grass Dancer. When he dances the dance, as well as the attire represent the tall prairie grasses of their homeland moving in the wind.

A sheep is laid on a table, or on the ground and held in place while the thick winter-coat of wool is sheared. Most Dine’ (Navajo) still use manual shears, instead of electric shears, which makes the process extremely labor-intensive.

These two men carry a sheared sheep by the legs to a pen that is separate from the sheep still waiting to be sheared. The sheep is carried so that it doesn’t run off into the open vast landscape.

As the wool is sheared from the sheep it is piled on a large plastic tarp. Once much as accumulated, it will be gathered by hand and packed into long tubular sacks for transportation to the collective warehouse.

The buildings of the Pueblo are made solely from adobe, which is earth mixed with straw and water. The walls are commonly several feet thick. Periodically maintenance needs to be performed by applying new mud to the walls. The current residents of

Periodically the adobe needs to be repaired. This is accomplished by applying new adobe mud to the walls. In this image one can see the smoothness of the repaired section near the wooden steps.

Coal miners, at the Leer Mine in Taylor County, West Virginia, wait at the elevator to take them down into the mine shafts which spider off in several directions, and spread out for miles.

Coal miners, at the Leer Mine in Taylor County, West Virginia, wait as the previous shift emerges from the elevator that connects above ground with the mine. .

Deep underground, and several miles from the elevator shaft that brought us down, miners work in an area that is extremely loud, with narrow walkways and a ceiling that is barely above one’s head. There is a constant danger working in these conditio

As I was driving to Gillette, Wyoming for the annual Buck n’ Ball, and of course the annual Chicken Roping Competition, I passed by Devil’s Tower National Monument. I found an irony with this sign in the middle of nowhere. The open desolation of a

The handmade wooden sign nailed to an old tree along State Highway 22 near Samburg, Tennessee.

Along Interstate 71 just south of Columbus Ohio.

This, for me, was a scene that may have been very reminiscent of the day of the crucifixion when Jesus was nailed to the cross. On the opposite side of the boardwalk was a pizza shop. Atop the pizza shop backed by the sky, was a statue of a short, c

David Robert Farmerie is a photojournalist and long-form documentarian capturing the lived realities of Americans often overlooked. Since 2015, he has traveled nationwide, listening and documenting stories on digital and film to preserve them for the present and future. His work centers on dignity and belonging, offering both reflection and urgent insight into a divided society.