From February 25 to March 8 I had the good fortune of taking a road trip through some of the most photogenic parts of California.

Having been born and raised in Europe, the idea of road trips has always fascinated me as a uniquely American phenomenon, and a powerful way for foreign-born people like me to connect to the land and the culture with the help of their camera. That tradition dates back, of course, at least as far back as my compatriot Robert Frank whose “The Americans” is probably the iconic body of photographic work from an American road trip. The superb images of British-born Simon Kossoff taken during his own road trips through the American heartland, prodded me further to just do it.

The destination I selected was the Alabama Hills, near the town of Lone Pine Ca. The least I can say is that it lived up to its promise, as did the roads leading there, in particular Ca route 178 and Highway 395, along which these images were made.

Alabama Hills, Ca. – 2

Cottonwoods near Canebrake, Ca.

Alabama Hills, Ca.

Lake Diaz, Ca.

Route 178 near Ridgecrest, Ca.

Hwy 395 near Grant, Ca.

Near Lone Pine, Ca.

Near Manzanar, Ca.

In addition to the landscape images shown here, shot with a Canon 40D and a Sigma 18-200 lens, I kept a visual diary consisting of square format images I took each day, shot on a Panasonic LX 3 and geo-tagged with a Jobo unit. A selection of these images is at Footloose from Santa Barbara to Manzanar to San Jose – A visual diary.

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