Approaching the 2008 presidential election, I became curious about how the houses, streets, trees and sky looked in places that were simply blue or red according to news media. Just one week before the election, I traveled along I-80, a ‘middle road’ that divides the United States into two halves.

Using both black and white and color film, I photographed presidential posters in American towns from coast to coast. I found one neighborhood in every state I passed through, preferring smaller communities to major metropolitan cities. My Rolleiflex twin lens reflex camera enabled me to capture the detailed character of each place via the square 120mm sized negative.

The elements of landscape that were originally intended as background to intense political discourse quickly found a leading role in the images, placing perspective on the smallness of politics in America. The black and white film captured the moment in history while the color film highlighted an autumnal hue and cast a mood that envelopes each place.

The trip took one full week and included 15 different places in 12 states.