The American Dream Is Dead.

A photographic Mini Series.

American Pride

American pride, an internationally recognised phenomena. Evident in their speech, attitude, and unwavering patriotism, American's pride in their country is worn as a badge of honour on their shoulders, and flown on flag poles scattered everywhere. What better photograph is there to represent than this American flag, flying proud in a bright blue sky on a hot summers day with a palm tree towering in the background.

The American Dream is Dead

Despite America's unwavering pride, many would argue the American dream, the idea at the heart of American pride, is dead. Destroyed by late stage capitalism, corporate greed, and political corruption. I wont comment on any specific political movement in America at the moment, but it is hard not to recognise the increased political turmoil and social unrest rising in America. This tattered American flag, blowing in the wind is a perfect representation increasingly un-United States of America, and a stark contrast to 'American Pride'.

Like I said, I'm not getting political today, so lets turn to the church. Absolutely nothing political about that... NOTHING...

Charleston, where most of these photos were taken, is a sprawling city in South Carolina, with a rich history spanning colonial America, the civil war, and Postbellum.

Some fun facts about Charleston:

• Charleston was the 4th largest city in colonial America, and also the richest.

• America's first golf club was in Charleston

• Charleston was originally named Charles Town after King Charles ii

• The civil war began in Charleston

A Smoky Christmass

Another fun fact about Charleston, it was home to a massive Tabaco trade. 3 of them in-fact, as the production of Tabaco in Charleston rose and fell over the years. The history of Tabaco still flows in the blood of Charleston's streets, as seen here by a Christmas wreath, made entirely out of Tabaco leaves tied together with a red (or grey) ribbon.

Seeing a Christmas wreath made out of Tabaco certainly stumped me for a while and I spent a good 5 minutes standing and staring at it before I finally put my camera up to my eyes and took a photo. Having lived in 5 countries its not very often I get culture shock, but there is nothing else to describe what this was, pure, unrestrained culture shock.

The biggest thing that always strikes me when I'm back in America is how big and open the roads are. Compared to the tightly packed streets and twisty buildings signatures of the British landscape, America is flat and spread out. It is for this reason I chose to shoot so many of the photos as X-Pan style panoramas. I did this with the built in crop on my (no longer) Fujifilm GFX 50s, but boy do I want an X-Pan of my own. Maybe one day.

Sax on the Sea Side

Time for some rapid fire photographs, starting with a man playing the sax on a pier while his children run around behind him, and a crowded street crossing, somewhat reminiscent of that famous photograph of the Beatles, at least to me.

Horse Tours

Next the Charleston Carriage works setting of on their next tour of the city. Its not uncommon to find horses in Charleston, so if your an equestrian lover then it may be a good visit for you. I was assured the horses are well cared for and there are strong horse labour laws in Charleston so you needn't worry about them.

Stop and Go

The Penultimate shot, traffic lights with a purple sky behind, illuminating the streets with a pastel glow.

Finally Cars! who doesn't love a good bumper shot of an old car? I do and I'm not exactly a car person, but I can recognise good design when I see it. And mixing dogs with cars, what more could you want? I don't know!