Willis E. Hartshorn (Buzz) has been the director of International Center of Photography from 1994 to 2013.
“As a photographer, I have always wanted to take a cross-country road trip. I imagined the classic drive West that so many photographers have done. “Real” photographers like Robert Frank and Stephen Shore.
I had no illusions about the importance of the photographs I would make. I only hoped that photography would show me where I was and where I might want to go.
In 2013, due to illness, I retired from a job I held for nearly 30 years. What I wanted most was a quiet life, in a peaceful place, where I could make pictures. My wife and I left New York City for the Hudson River Valley. I rented a room in an old appliance store and called it my studio. I worked every day and the pictures began to feel comfortable, as if I knew what I was doing.
The idea of an extended road trip felt less useful than looking closely at where I live. Mostly I walked, sometimes I drove, but I worked in a relatively small radius from home. I did not look for the odd or extraordinary, the downtrodden or the abused – I looked for images that have a sense of everyday life. Nothing fancy, but a good way to live nonetheless.
As the urge for a road trip all but disappeared, my wife and I made a couple of visits to see our daughter in Colorado. She said life is good in the mountains, so we moved there a few months ago. I am reserving judgment on this move that has finally taken me to the West, but so far it is fine.”
