2nd Oct 08

What:
New & Used book release reading

Where:
The Recorded Music Salon, 11 Collins St (upstairs)

When:
Wed Oct 8, 6-8pm

How much:
Free entry to launch reading, $30 for book

Launch:
Wed Oct 8, 6-8pm, Recorded Music Salon, Lvl 1, 11 Collins St, Melbourne. RSVP ESSENTIAL! Email info@perfectblackswan.com before Monday.

Ah, road trips. The mention of them gets my blood racing. It's the romantic notion of packing up the car and actually going somewhere. Exploring small towns, laughing, giggling even, telling stories, learning secrets. Getting annoyed with each other then getting over it. Eating pasties with sauce.

The other thing about road trips is taking photos and keeping a diary. Documenting the journey is almost as fun as looking back on it later, although the results never seem to quite live up to the memory. The notes on your conversation with the service station guy seem petty and cruel, and all the fun shots from inside the car are completely out of focus.

Earlier this year, Melbourne photographer Warwick Baker and writer TB Hemingway (sort of his real name) took a road trip across the deserts of Arizona and California, ending up in the imperfect sprawl of Los Angeles. Baker's beautiful large format landscapes and tight, sleazy 35mm snapshots perfectly capture the decline and majesty of the dry heart of the USA, while Hemingway's accompanying stories inject fully formed characters into the settings.

The results look something like you wish all road trips should look like - dramatic, iconic, a little bit dangerous. And the focus is sharp.

By Max Olijnyk

Medium: Photography

Drink: Anything, as long as you look good holding it