On my journey across America last year, I drove through tiny towns that offered an up-close glimpse of Americana.  When I ride through any community, I always keep my eyes peeled for an unconventional scene, such as this life-size statue of a white-aproned short-order cook alongside his hamburger creation, at Fat Smitty’s in Port Townsend, Washington.

Americana at its best!  The flag, the cook in his baseball cap, and the mile-high hamburger overflowing with tomatoes, onions, American cheese, lettuce and loads of condiments, all squished among three buns!!  What a meal! I almost don’t need to explain anything, as this image signifies creative small-town America.  I love to photograph these art statements, because they say so much about us as an imaginative country.

Art exist in the most unusual places.  This pig has a snout that doubles as a cover for the air conditioner on the side of this small catering establishment in Oregon!   It is hard to believe barbecue was not invented in America,, because it is served everywhere (some think it was invented in China).  What is it?  Usually smoked pork or beef slow-cooked in a barbecue pit.  It differs from Texas to North Carolina, but up here it is pulled pork. It is delicious, let me tell you.

This colorful scene, taken late in the day, was helped along by the blue, blue sky and red and yellow sign.

Carol M. Highsmith is a professional photographer who has been traveling America for the past 30 years.  She is donating her entire collection of images to the Library of Congress, copyright-free.

Some capitols are classic, such the gleaming-white, iconic U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.  And some have a more contemporary design, like this one in North Dakota.

I had just the right light on this majestic capitol in Bismarck, with a background of puffs and blue sky.  This 19-story structure replaced the original capitol that burned down in the 1930s.  The vast, green-grass vista that surrounds the capitol building, helps its silhouette stand out.

I love North and South Dakota.  Both states have interesting and unusual tourist attractions.  Everyone knows about Mount Rushmore located in South Dakota, and what could be a more shining example of Americana than showing off the sculpted profiles of four of our presidents.  But there is another stunning mountain, not far from Rushmore, that is moulded into the form of Sioux Indian warrior Crazy Horse.  It will not be completed in my lifetime, but when it is finished, it will be four times the size of Rushmore.

You can begin to see the face of the famous Indian. The horses head in front will be blasted out in future years. The carving of the mountain was created by sculptor  Korczak Ziolkowski beginning June 3, 1948. The memorial’s mission is to honor the culture, tradition and living heritage of all North American Indians. Classic images like these are easy to create in the Dakotas, where art is found in many unusual places.

Carol M. Highsmith is a professional photographer who has been traveling America for the past 30 years.  She is donating her entire collection of images to the Library of Congress, copyright-free.

Maybe it’s just me, but there is nothing more calming and therapeutic than driving on the backroads of America. On my trip across the United States in 2010, I thought about all the trips I had taken across the same roads in the past 30 years. Why is it I never grow tired of the miles and miles and miles of pastoral America? It is mesmerizing. On days filled with puffy clouds, all I want to do is take photographs.  Bales of hay and blue skies filled with cotton are my palette.

The clouds, are always in different configurations and add depth to this image.  That is why it is called “Big Sky Country.” Montana is a vast state, so I stopped to capture scenic views time after time.

Sometimes the bales of hay look like dots across the land, because it is such a vast scene.  Only up close can you see the design of the roll.  Speaking of clouds, look at these!  The light reflecting on the top and the dark, storm-like pattern underneath make it look surreal.

Carol M. Highsmith is a professional photographer who has been traveling America for the past 30 years.  She plans to donate her entire collection of images to the Library of Congress copyright-free.

I love to ride along the backroads of my country.  Way out there in rural America, where, if you close your eyes, you might not have any clue what farm state you were in.  Many of my images are of old wooden barns and row upon row of lush harvests.  Last year during my trip across the U.S., I had just the right light on this field of crops in Wisconsin.  I am delighted when I snap a photograph like this, because America is still 83% rural, and this is the scene out my window during much of my journey.  It would be a shame if it was recorded only in my mind.

Along with the millions of acres of farmland, I also enjoy quirky American outdoor art.  I visit the smallest parks and I am constantly searching on the Internet for anything unusual that I might pass along the way.  I have gone miles and miles out of the way just to see a statue of a pig, a boll weevil, or even this art, known as largest buffalo statue in America! I’m sorry, I miswrote, it is the largest buffalo in the entire world!!!

And of course he stands guard over the town of Jamestown, North Dakota.  He is 26 feet tall and was built in 1959.  In 2010, this grand bison was named Dakota Thunder in a contest that drew more than 3,500 entries.

Carol M. Highsmith is a professional photographer who has been recording the American scene for the 30 years. She is donating her life’s work of images to the Library of Congress, copyright-free.

On my photographic journey across America, we drove from Detroit to the Windy City of Chicago.  I have always had a fondness for this remarkable city, especially its art scene.  I visited Millennium Park and placed my camera right in the water as kids splashed around artist Jaume Plensa’s 50-foot glass block towers of flowing water that project video images of 1,000 different Chicagoans faces.  It is really not that easy to capture an image of this ever-changing art because the faces move and contort.  The most fun is when the face puckers his lips and spews a mouthful of water towards the crowd.  With children running and splashing and slipping and sliding, I was lucky to get this shot:

There is art everywhere you look in the park, even a Frank Gehry pavilion!

Just a few blocks away is a new piece of larger-than-life art. It is a giant eyeball sculpture by artist Tony Tasset. Somehow, in between all the people viewing it, I was able to snap this image. Note how realistic it is.  Of course, I went into Photoshop and worked on the blue color to make it pop.

The Chicago Art experience is always memorable, and there is so much to see, it usually takes several trips.

In my travels across America, I planned to visit Detroit, the largest city in Michigan.  With all the tough times and bad press it has faced in recent years, I was bracing for the worst. Detroit has been known as Motor City, signifying the importance it played in American automobile manufacturing, and it is famous for the Motown sound, but those iconic labels are both from yesteryear. These days it is struggling to keep its fleeing population and crumbling buildings from casting a dark shadow.  But there are some beautiful sides to Detroit, as there are in any town.  Sometimes, even the smallest detail can show how elegant a place might have been years ago.  I photographed this detail in a crevice of a building downtown.

I continued to tour Detroit and found that there was still so much of the elegant, classical Gilded Age architecture and art in place that it was easy to see why Detroit was once thought of as the Paris of the West. There is an underbelly of this city that has fallen on hard times, but it has kept much of its historic architecture, art museums and prominent neighborhoods restored and magnificent.  This famous painting entitled “Man’s Mobility,” by John S. Coppin, is displayed in the Detroit Public Library, which was designed by noted architect, Cass Gilbert.

There are many sides to Detroit.  A city worth a visit with an open mind and some time to spare.

At least once a year, I drive across the United States with my husband, Ted, so that I can continue to document the American scene.  In August of last year, I completed my Washington, D.C., neighborhood study, and I was ready to go out on the road and capture wooden barns, fields of crops and teeny, tiny towns. We headed up to the Finger Lakes in Upper State New York.  It was beautiful, serene and incredibly photogenic scene. The Finger Lakes are a series of narrow and long lakes that are among the deepest in America.

I’ve become a sort of shirtsleeve expert on America, and I have traveled throughout the vast majority of its ribbon of highways. But somehow the Finger Lakes had eluded me.  Now I can include it in my trove of images that I have been gathering of America over the past 30 years.

I always love to visit small diners and taste real down-to-earth American cuisine as I travel our country.  I was mightily tempted to have one of the “Beef on Wecks” at the Pok-A-Dot Diner in Genesee, New York, but I controlled myself because I knew I had thousands of miles to go, and if I let down my guard early in the trip, I would be the size of my house by the time I returned to it.

There is no doubt that a diner is about as American as you can get.  They open at the crack of dawn and close way after my bedtime.  And the food is classic American fare.  Diners are served oversized plates full of over-the-top fattening food, often smothered in gravy.  It took a lot of self-control to curb myself in this unique diner. By the way, if you’re curious, “Beef on Weck” is an Upstate New York speciality.  It’s a soft roll, coated in sea salt and caraway seeds, filled with the freshest of rare roast beef.  Ah, only in America!!!

There is something elegant and modern about the look of Art Deco.  This entrance detail of the Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C., is classic Deco.  Known as the “Old Lady,” this apartment was home to both Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson before they occupied the White House. Built in the early ’30s, it is considered the largest and best example of an Art Deco apartment building in Washington.

Art Deco is an eclectic artistic style that was initiated in Paris in the 1920s.  This distinctive style flourished throughout the world during the 1930s.

To go from highbrow Art Deco to Pulp Purple and Cork White on 14th Street N.W., is quite a transition. These buildings are the new look of the 14th Street corridor.  Pulp is a stationery store and Cork is a wine bar.  It is stores like these that have transformed this area from seedy and intimidating to thriving.

So you see there is more to Washington, D.C., than just tourist attractions.  It is a city of neighborhoods, row houses and charming people.  It is flourishing and attracting young professionals.  I loved spending past summer working in my hometown and getting reacquainted with it and all it has to offer.

I have been captivated by all that the Library of Congress represents since I moved to Washington in 1976. Not only is it the greatest body of knowledge in the world and the largest library, it was established with a donation of Thomas Jefferson’s personal book collection in 1815.  That is why, when Congress decided to erect a building to represent the Library’s growing collection in 1890, it was designated the Thomas Jefferson Building in his honor. Inside this classical Beaux-Arts structure is a vast showcase of art.  More than fifty American painters and sculptors produced commissioned works of art. Even the capitals on top of the columns have unique designs. Over the past five years, I have had the honor of documenting this amazing place.  You can see these images by following this link: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=thomas%20jefferson%20building&co=highsm&sg=true

I go back in occasionally and continue to capture the nuances of the vast interior.  These images were taken over the past few months.

This is a detail of a Lunette with mural Earth by William De Leftwich Dodge.

Then there is the Library of Congress Main Reading Room.  It is quite a moving experience to sit at one of the desk and actually read one of the books in this room.

I trust you can see why I am “taken” with this place.  The interior is surrounded by statues of great scholars. When I stand inside the Thomas Jefferson Building, I am proud that it sits on American soil and I am proud to be an American.

I love outdoor murals.  I have photographed them for years all over the U.S.A. They often depict the cities or neighborhoods where I am working though the eyes of those who know their community well.  One time I was in Detroit and there was a colorful mural of Muhammed Ali.  There were children playing around the mural, and one boy had on boxing gloves.  I posed him next to the mural of the famous boxer and had myself a fascinating shot. I probably have 5,000 various murals in every configuration. While I was working on Washington, D.C., neighborhoods, I came across this fun mural. It was in a parking lot, and when I happened upon it there was a car in front of it.  Finally the car moved. Sometimes, if I think the mural is worth it, I come back several times during the day so I can photograph it without cars in front. This one was worth it!

I always feel that even though some talented artist painted a mural, it became my art when I added the context of the surrounding area in the photograph.

Many tourists visit the U.S. Capitol, which is fantastic, but they don’t know how interesting the old National Capitol Corinthian columns look way out in the Washington Arboretum off in an obscure corner of the city.  These columns, which were part of the original Capitol in 1828, did not remain at the Capitol very long because of the configuration of the great building.  They were stored away and did not move out to the Arboretum until 1984. They are the most photographed attraction at the Arboretum.

I could spend months photographing Washington, D.C., and never finish my work.  It has many amazing and historic looks. When I think about my city, I visualize not only the white gleaming monuments, but also Ben’s Chili Bowl, the Potomac River, Georgetown, all the statues, streets that have circles and not many tall buildings. It is a magical place that shines as a hometown and a showplace for tourists and international guests too.

After spending four months in Alabama working on my 21st Century America Project at the beginning of 2010, I came home to work with two smart-as-a-whip  interns who helped me document the neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.  for my Library of Congress collection. George F. Landegger, the same generous man who funded my stint in Alabama, decided to give me another grant to work in my hometown.  It was like I had arrived in heaven.  Slept in my own bed, traveled around in my favorite city, spend quality time with my husband, Ted, and finally spent time showing off those beautiful row houses, like this one in the Adams-Morgan area of Washington.

Washington, D.C., is like a small town.  Not only does it have rows and rows of row houses in different styles, but it also has a small town feel to it.   I can easily drive from the Capitol to Georgetown in just a few minutes and see all of the city’s beautiful monuments on the way.  I have actually worked for the National Mall and Memorial Parks for years, capturing those iconic memorials.  I still feel a thrill when I visit those gleaming, white structures. I have even been able to take photographs from one of the helicopters that escort the President!  My task this time, however, was to show off a part of Washington, D.C., most visitors rarely see.  For years I have passed the McMillian Reservoir, longing to get inside to see it up close and also to see the catacombs underneath.  I finally had my chance.  I brought all of my cameras, even my black-and-white infrared.

I spent hours roaming around this immense plot of land right on the edge of town.  It was all I hoped it would be. Thanks again for joining me on my journey around America. There are many more places to visit and even some places in our vast country that you might not have ever heard of.  See you next time.  Carol

Sometimes in life it is important to stop what you are doing and take some time to put things back in place. During the year 2010, I had been traveling for months, first in Alabama starting on my 21st Century America Project, then driving across the entire United States – New York State to Washington State, then I came back to work in Washington, D.C., neighborhoods, then drove back down to Alabama for the iconic football games.  It was all wonderful and exciting, but when I finally arrived back to my home in October I was in not one of the American states, but the state of disarray.  There were boxes of papers, camera equipment everywhere, piles of mail and disorganization at its very peak.  I decided to take the next several months to put my life back together and rearrange everything that had  fallen out of place.  This was not just one year of disorganization, it took years. Stopping to straighten out my life was the best move I have done in years.  Now my office is back together, I can think straight, I can concentrate on what I love to do most, which of course is photography.

This is how my Victorian office used to look before my thousands of miles of travel and months away from home. Now I have it back in shape, and I am getting ready to travel again.  Before I go on the road, however, I would like to show you where I have been over the past few months and tell you all about my plans for the future.

Spring has just begun to pop around Washington, D.C., so before I take you on my trip around the country  I’d like to show you the beauty of my home.  I have worked for days capturing Washington’s cherry trees and tulips in previous years, but this is the only image I was able to catch in between meetings at the Library of Congress this year.

The U.S. Capitol during the 2011 Spring season, by Carol M. Highsmith

I am posting this short blog to let you know I plan to bring you loads of updates over the next few weeks.  Thanks for joining me again as I travel across our country to document America for future generations to see.  Carol