I did not take this picture. It is by John Vachon one of many photographers recruited by Roy Stryker who headed the Information Division of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the Great Depression. He launched the documentary photography movement which documented the conditions of rural America in the 1930-40s.

Looking at this, it sparks memory. I remember seeing roads like this when I was a little girl. We would travel all over, moving from place to place; the scenery is similar to say the least. I was not alive when this photo was taken (sometime around 1940), but growing up in the Mid-West in the 60s and 70s, things really hadn’t changed much in many places.

I am caught in a bit of wonder: how do I know my memories are mine and not some movie/picture I’ve seen elsewhere?

The more we visually document our lives, especially the mundane, daily routines, the more I think we will be left with the idea that some of these happenings were our own even if we weren’t there.

I’d wager this is how legends/ fairy tales/ myths begin…