America the Jigsaw Puzzle

Good Morning America (Volume II) is the second in an ongoing series of five books about the U.S.A. by photographer Mark Power. To be completed over the course of 10 years, the project “is a personal and timely exploration of both the American cultural and physical landscape, and the divergence of reality and myth,” states the publisher, GOST Books.

Power, who was born in England in 1959, grew up watching TV shows that mythologized the American West. When he started photographing in the U.S.A, “Power subconsciously began searching for this mythical landscape, one which perhaps never existed at all” writes GOST. This approach, combined with Power’s outlook as an outsider, provides a unique and shifting perspective on a complicated time in America’s history.

Since completing the first book Power travelled to rural locations where farming is the dominant industry, from the Great Plains of the Dakotas and Montana to the snowbound terrain of the Pacific Northwest. He also visited the border between California and Mexico, and made a return to the Rust Belt – more overtly politically-charged regions.

“America,” says Power, “enthralls and frustrates me in equal measure.” The photographs in the series are not organized by geography or subject because, “the world is too complicated for that,” explains Power. “I have a keen sense that I’m assembling a large and complicated jigsaw puzzle with little idea of what the final picture will be,” he says.

Mark Power is a member of Magnum Photos.

Good Morning America (Volume II)
By Mark Power
GOST Books