Driver/ photographer

This simple B&W photo is revered by many. It speaks volumes. You don't know her name. Nobody does, but you don't need to.

Somebody must preserve what we experience today. In 50, 100 years what we know today will be gone. The drivers and the trucks of today will have long disappeared, only to be a memory for some. Where are all the photos of the old 76 Truck Stops? The old pay-phone banks? The truckers who took pride in their profession? You will have a hard time finding them because few took the time to preserve the era.



I'm not sure today's generation of trucker is worth preserving in images, but for better or worse, it should be done.

 

Florence Owens Thompson... but your point is no less valid.

Spit is changing so fast around truck stops these days a shooter needs a motor drive. When I started driving in 2000 there were still plenty of truck stops with plastic shower stalls smaller than a phone booth and water pressure that most closely resembled being urinated upon by a toddler.

 

You want portraits of truck drivers? Read "Truck Stop" by Marc F. Wise and Bryan Di Salvatore. Marc's portraits are museum quality and they're in several permanent collections including, IIRC, MOMA. The essays in the book--one each by Marc and Bryan--offer two of the best descriptions of the life ever printed. Best book ever published about trucking and truck drivers. It will endure. You can find it at Amazon and you can Google Marc and Bryan.

OP -- if you have a portfolio to show drivers, explain to your intended subjects what your project is about, and offer them free copies of the picture(s) you take of them, that might open the door. If you get hostility or rejection, just move on. Post a few of your photos here. I'd like to see your work. Idea: portraits of drivers and their dogs.

 

This should be appreciated today for what it is. I understand we're talking about people portraiture but the idea is the same as truck image archiving.



Today what we take for granted seems silly to many (to photograph) ...





Because who knows what tomorrow brings

 

I like taking pictures, but not of drivers lol. Sunrise, sunset, a nice chrome out truck. But ac120 is right, show them a portfolio and explain. Idk if they would agree without a shower and put on a fresh set of clothes. Some of these drivers I see....or smell...don't seem photogenic

 

To put it bluntly, today's current events are tomorrow's history. I see no problem with documenting today's drivers, trucks, and trucking environment. As a photographer myself, I'd love to do (or contribute to) this effort, and if someone came up to me and asked if they could take a photograph of me and/or my truck, I'd be more than happy to say "yes".

 

Yup trucking industry is always changing. Compare old timers with cowboy hats and boots to what we see everyday now (not gna mention who)

 

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...ucker-a-portrait-of-the-last-american-cowboy/

 

too funny, ..............

 

im right there with Dino, I do not want to be bothered for photos etc, I get annoyed when people stop me, come up to my window etc asking for things. 9/10 times when im at a truck stop im in a hurry to do what im doing then leave, most of the time I wont even give you a chance to even ask me something, I normally just right off the bat tell someone im not interested and just walk past them.