Anna Fox & Karen Knorr: U.S. Route 1 (After Berenice Abbott)

Anna Fox & Karen Knorr – U.S. Route 1 (After Berenice Abbott)
Trolley Books

In U.S. Route 1 (After Berenice Abbott), Anna Fox and Karen Knorr retrace the path of Abbott’s 1954 road trip along the American East Coast, revisiting the same route across a tumultuous eight-year period from 2016 to 2024. The result is both homage and update – a collaborative document that engages with contemporary America through the lens of Abbott’s legacy. Fox and Knorr move through motels, diners, drugstores and small towns, creating a portrait of place shaped by political change, economic precarity and shifting cultural norms. The book considers both the visible and symbolic infrastructure of Route 1, exploring the dissonance between national mythology and lived reality. Alongside photographs taken on location, the artists incorporate images sourced from social media during periods of restricted travel, including the Capitol insurrection of 2021. What emerges is a layered investigation of American identity, informed by feminist and documentary traditions. An extended text by Dr Charlene Heath situates the project within a wider photographic discourse.