Most countries have a region that is purposely secluded from political, social, or cultural reforms. The reasons for this range from prejudice to stereotype to a mere lack of empathy. For instance, in Australia, it is the Outbacks; in India, it is Kashmir and largely the North Eastern states; and in China, it is Xinjiang, an autonomous region where the Uyghurs live. The United States, too, is not too different in this regard. For the past few decades, there has been a growing chasm between distinct groups. However, one particular day, this abyss widened further. “The events against our government on January 6 became the final straw at the exasperation I had felt for many years about the division in this country,” says photographer Richard Sharum to The Phoblographer. Sharum has been chronicling the isolation of the central spine of the country, which is made up of a 100-mile wide corridor that runs through the Central United States and along the borders of Mexico and Canada. What happened next was Sharum embarking on a three-year project called Spina Americana, which explores why we overlooked the region through its compelling photographs.
All images are by Richard Sharum, courtesy of GOST Books. You can follow his other works on his website or on his Instagram @richard_sharum.
Richard Sharum’s Journey to Understand The US
While January became a turning point for Sharum, the series, in many ways, has been in the making for several years. “I had been wanting to do something in response to this heightened national anxiety since I began my career almost 20 years ago,” he says. Sharum, who hails from Texas, began photography in 2005 while he was in college, studying history. Little did he know that the introduction to photography, which was a part of his elective requirement, would change his life. “I began to understand that I could also teach history while being a witness to it—while documenting it—so, I changed my career choice,” he reveals. Now, with Spina Americana, it is a full circle moment as he documents a changing landscape unfolding before him. “It became clear that it was time to start moving in a particular direction towards trying to understand why we are divided, to begin with, and how different are we really from one another,” he states.
I am not foolish enough to think that anything I do makes a difference on a national scale, but I do believe all major movements in a society must first begin on a personal scale.
Richard SharuM
During the three-year journey, Sharum traveled through the corridor, encompassing states such as the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, amongst others, interacting with 4000 individuals and capturing thousands of images. The resulting project is an exceptional look at the way what makes this region so diverse and special. “In moving directly against division, Spina Americana is a visual manifesto in the necessary movement towards unification,” he adds. The photographs depict this region with the utmost sensitivity and in its wholeness. Whether it is Mennonites, Lutherans, Indigenous Americans, Mexican-Americans, or farmers with German, Scandinavian, or Ukrainian roots, everyone gets their own space in Sharum’s project, which, in many ways, will remind you of the works of W. Eugene Smith, Robert Frank, and Mary Ellen Mark. On the whole, Spina Americana is a labor of love from an individual who has been witnessing a group of people for who they are instead of who one wishes them to be.
Making of a Thought-Provoking Photo Book
Richard Sharum shot the images on his Sony Rx1R2, which were then minimally processed in Lightroom. “I refuse to do anything in post-processing that I couldn’t do in a wet darkroom—contrast, dodging or burning, and maybe a slight vignetting,” he explains.
Once this part was out of the way, it came to the second challenging aspect: creating the photo book. Sharum tells us that he did not wish to showcase the central spine in a linear fashion (geographically) as it would appear “cheap” and “expected.” Instead, Sharum’s approach allows readers to drop their preconceived notions as they flip through the book. “Stu Smith (the designer) and I decided on themes instead, or chapters based on a particular location or group of people we felt needed their own place in the book,” he explains. The book, which is published by GOST Books, includes ten distinct sections, each revealing the unseen layers of the region.
There is a wholesomeness that takes place in the interactions with people that seem strange or foreign to you, and I feel like that is a good thing. There are great people living in this central “spine” and I was shown a level of hospitality there unmatched in other parts of the country.
Richard SharuM
Giving us an example, Sharum says, “Even though the exotic dancers are technically ‘working’ while being dancers, we didn’t want to stick them amongst the other laborers in the ‘work’ section.” He further adds that Smith and he decided the dancers “deserved their own place in the book for people to really view them as a stand-alone group,” as they often are perceived a certain way. The images also reflect this definition, as the photographs showcase the joys and sorrows of the dancers, many of whom confine their trust to one another.
Spina Americana is among the other books in the series on contemporary America, while the overarching project is collectively titled Of Thee I Sing. When asked about his opinions about the future of the central United States, Richard Sharum shares: “I think it will continue to sit in isolation politically, socially, and culturally until the rest of the country sees value, as they should, in the people living there.” Sharum’s experiences and emotions are captured in the black-and-white photographs, which are infused with hope. The photo book serves to lift the obscuring veil on people’s understanding of the place. What they need to do is to carefully and continuously examine the narratives from the corridor.
How Sharum Approaches Long-Term Projects
As we concluded the interview, we asked Sharum for his advice for our readers. The first thing he tells us is that one must be able to learn to speak to strangers before they pick up the camera for their project. “Don’t be afraid to talk to anyone,” Richard Sharum shares. “In fact, seek out those you wouldn’t normally interact with in public, and then ask yourself why you were apprehensive in the first place. This is the key to photographing at will, with complete autonomy.” Sharum is correct; many today fail to see the value of engaging in conversations, missing out on exemplary stories.
Don’t ever stop being curious.
Richard SharuM
He further adds that once you have figured out the narrative, you must question what you can do differently from other photographers. Even look at photo books to gain inspiration. “There is just as much value in being the Anvil as there is in being the Hammer,” he states. “Wait, then wait some more. You learn these things and people will open up to you like a flower, inviting you in. Search for the justice in that.”
Highlighting the use of AI in photography, Sharum notes that it comes at the “worst time.” He tells The Phoblographer: “People already have a hard time believing what they see, read, or hear. In an age where misinformation is a wild grassfire, AI imagery/video will be the gasoline.” He further adds that he is disappointed in social media platforms, galleries, and curators. He believes they have given “AI a stage, qualification, and a hierarchy amongst real photography—where the physical capture of light occurs and is not digitally produced.”
Richard Sharum’s in-depth exploration of a region that contributes to the future of the United States. In many ways, the residents are just as significant as those living in coastal urban areas. Spina Americana, thus, reminds us of the diversity we are at risk of losing because we are unable to recognize the value of the inhabitants there. If we don’t take action now, we could face another January 6 situation soon.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
The Phoblographer works with human photographers to verify that they’ve actually created their work through shoots. These are done by providing us assets such as BTS captures, screenshots of post-production, extra photos from the shoot, etc. We do this to help our readers realize that this is authentically human work. Here’s what this photographer provided for us.
