Florence Montmare: America Series

The America Series is her first monograph and is a collection of photographs, created 2021 - 2022, while traveling from the East Coast to the West and back in an electric vehicle, made into a make shift studio. While charging the electric vehicle, Montmare encountered and photographed people from all walks of life, while discussing topics of the environment, hopes and dreams for the future. Not only is the population continuing to evolve as new immigrants make the US their home, the land is also physically changing, as a result of the climate crisis we are facing. The westward route is one of aspiration and opportunity - a reflection on the topic of immigration and diversity, both from the photographers point of view and her subjects - and includes Native, African American and LGBTQ perspectives and voices. The work touches upon urgent current topics: climate, sustainability, the energy crisis and the electrification agenda. Against a backdrop of a uniform man-made urban landscape, with the repetition of strip malls, fast food chains and billboards urging people to consume more, the work also highlights the economic difference between Americans that have, and Americans that have not, and where sustainability discussions sometimes seem like a luxury.