An American Story
Photobook
An American Story is a photobook created by Blake Greene about the cyclical nature of human struggle. The book utilizes photographs from the Farm Security Administration archive to conduct a linear narrative. Made out of repurposed books, An American Story is designed to be a "timeless" object, meaning it is unclear to the reader when the book was constructed. The size and orientation of the book references 20th century paperback novels. There are two written sections of the book, the first being the third chapter from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and the second being from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West. Steinbeck's passage at the head of the novel sets up the story to come, informing the reader that the tale takes place during the American Dust Bowl and establishes running themes for the viewer to look for. The book concludes with the epilogue from McCarthy's work, furthering the idea of cycle, repetition, and amor fati. The book was hand bound and printed using a digital color printer.
Process
Secquencing and Construction
An American Story adheres to a linear narrative to be read from front to back like a traditional novel. The process of choosing these select photos started by searching the FSA archive for photos taken during the dust bowl. 150 images were chosen and then narrowed down through an editing process. This process involved arranging photos for continuity, thematic suggestion, foreshadowing, cynicism, juxtaposition, and clarity. Construction of the book was done by hand with the aid of a perfect binding machine. Over 80 old books were dissected in order to have enough blank pages for printing.
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