The internet and social media has done many things, but its homogenisation of culture has to be one of its saddest achievements. Hashtags and selfies and Kardashians and hypebeasts — the latest sneakers or protest movement just an Instagram or a Tweet away from levelling youths the world over.
‘Matthew’, Chimayo, New Mexico, 2003
Riding on the final frontier of fringe cultures, Hunter Barnes is a photographer who revels in the stories of America’s maligned and the misrepresented; bikers, native Americans, serpent handling pastors, rednecks, and gang members, forming an eclectic miscellany of subcultures threatened by a sweeping wave of normalisation. Proud of the personal connection he makes with his subjects, Barnes befriends members of these marginalised groups, building a trust that shines through his emotive analogue photography.
Riding through the deserts of New Mexico with low rider car clubs, gaining access to maximum security prisons, living on ranches, earning the respect of native Americans — Barnes’s unique life is as fascinating as those whose stories he tells, and 15 years of rejecting the mainstream is captured in Roadbook, a weighty limited edition tome; an exhibition based on that work currently on show in London.
‘Hunter leads with modest curiosity, expectation suspended, the journey his calling.’ writes Nathaniel Kilcer in his foreword to Barnes’s 2012 book A Testimony of Serpent Handling. ‘He seeks out forgotten quarters and the stories concealed there.’ Lives that go on away from the contemporary gaze, individuals holding on to the singularities that define them; this gifted, aytpical photographer documents the Americana that dreamers and romantics pray is never forgotten, never swept up in the tide of now.
Hunter Barnes, 15 Years, runs until 23 July at Serena Morton II, London, his limited edition Roadbook is published by Reel Art Press and available now.
Jason and Tara’s Wedding, Imnaha, Oregon, 2002
#2, CA State Prison, 2003
Reverend Taylor, Opa Locka, Florida, 2013
Immortals, New York, 2003
Shawn Powell, N.Y.C, 2004
Dreamer, from Roadbook
One Boss, Portland, Oregon, 2004
Therisa Higheagle, Wallowa, Oregon, 2004
‘Israel’, Española, New Mexico, 2003
Prestigious, Española, New Mexico, 2003
Grandpa, Wallowa, Oregon, 2004
All images © Hunter Barnes
Nancy Minthorn, Wallowa, Oregon, 2004
