The Vanishing America Project

"What will our country be like 100 years from now? Will there even be wild horses, bears, and mountain lions that aren’t confined to a zoo? Will still there be vast tracts of undiscovered natural wilderness? Will there be such a thing as a small town? Will our descendants even care? If we continue to let Progress go unchecked, these, and other cherished aspects of our country and culture, will be lost to us forever.

Precious aspects of our country and culture are in danger of vanishing within the next 2-3 generations, and photographer/writer Holt Webb is using his artistic eye to show the world what is at stake when we let Progress run rampant.

Beginning in May of 2007, and continuing through the end of 2012, Artist and writer Holt Webb will be driving an ecologically-friendly motor coach, powered by Vegetable Oil and Solar Energy, around the United States documenting and publishing images and stories of American treasures that could be lost to us during our lifetimes.

Holt’s Vanishing America Project looks to enlighten Americans on the fragile nature of our wildlife, our landscapes, and our own ways of life. Subjects include the great, but vulnerable, Okefenokee Swamp, the dying shrimping industry of the Atlantic coast, the uncertain fate of the Wild Mustang, and the search for authentic small-town life. Visiting 49 states, and traveling only by back roads, Holt seeks to capture scenes of America and American life that are all too easily forgotten in this age of technology, reality shows, and global commercialization.

The images and stories he brings back are both beautiful and shocking as we are shown man’s encroachment on nature, nature’s changing ecosystems, and our own forgotten cultural icons.

“America is changing fast. And, often, change is good. But sometimes change destroys the things we love about our country. Hopefully these images, and the ones that will follow as I travel across the United States, will remind people how precious, how ephemeral, and how important these aspects of our country and our culture are.”
-- Holt Webb

Articles, presentations, photo essays, books, Fine Art gallery exhibitions, a documentary, and a TV show will be forthcoming. Holt’s progress can be followed at www.vanishingamerica.net.