Unguided Road Trip

With no set destination and guided only by what he found interesting in the passing landscape, Iselin traveled throughout his native Switzerland and his 'second home, ' the United States. In small and densely populated Switzerland, the landscape is mottled with all sorts of structures and objects. But even the vast and scarcely inhabited areas of the United States reveal a surprising array of roadside attractions, from bus stops and gas stations to cattle gates, rifle ranges, and even a sixty-three-foot-tall neon cowboy, 'Wendover Will.' In many cases, the objects Iselin photographs serve a specific purpose, such as benches, phone booths, mailboxes, and signs?objects we make use of then forget about almost immediately. Other objects reflect our culture and values, like the wayside crosses that serve as memorials for victims of car accidents. Reflecting on the many objects common to both countries, Iselin argues that a landscape?s 'furniture' does not accumulate incidentally. Each object or structure has been designed and intentionally placed and can therefore tell us something about the society in which it is found.