A Parallel Road (Second Edition Hardcover)
Amani Willett
£20
This multi-layered work explores the Black experience of driving in America over the past 85 years. By picturing how it has too often been marked by fear, violence and death, A Parallel Road challenges representations of the American ideal of the road trip that have long dominated our view through artistic and literary media. Referencing the historical Negro Motorist Green Book, and layering archival and new images, it examines the question of how long the road will continue to be a site of violence and oppression for Black people in American society.
SECOND EDITION HARDCOVER
12.5 x 17 cm portrait (Approx 5x7in), 120 pages
Section-sewn binding with printed paper hardcover and cloth-covered spine (foiled)
92 photographs, archival images and digital screenshots
(Second edition includes 7 new images and 8 further pages)
Published December 2021 | ISBN: 9781999446871
SEE ALSO: A Parallel Road Artist Edition Box
Description
A romantic concept of ‘The Road’ has been embraced in American popular culture since the mid-20th century. Writers, artists and photographers, many inspired by revelations surrounding the Beat Generation’s legendary road trips, have long portrayed the idea of the road as a metaphorical symbol of freedom, independence and self-discovery.
Strikingly absent from this cumulative portrait is the Black American experience of the road which is often associated with fear, violence and death rather than freedom. This stark contrast is in conflict with the promise of familial fun times that the road trip afforded to white Americans.
In 1936, in response to the grave dangers faced by African American travelers, New York postman Victor Green created the Negro Motorist Green Book, a practical and necessary survival guide listing safe places where Black people could eat, sleep and find services along their journey without a dreadful fear for losing their lives. The guidebook was published annually for thirty years.
Mixing recent portraits and landscapes, digital screenshots and archival material—including pictures from Willett’s own family archive—A Parallel Road pays homage to Victor Green’s book, 84 years after it was first published, and sheds light on an experience of the road that has long been overlooked. It is produced in the same size as the original Green Book.
This nuanced and multi-layered work explores themes of history, racism, violence and Black identity in the United States, reflecting on the nation’s past and present while encouraging inclusivity and dialogue surrounding a complex and integral American story. While 54 years have passed since Green’s book ceased publication, it remains profoundly relevant in a time when the mere act of being on the road still threatens to be lethal for Black Americans.
Design by Tiffany Jones
The Author
Based in Boston, Amani Willett‘s photography is driven by conceptual ideas surrounding family, history, memory, and the social environment. His most recent book The Disappearance of Joseph Plummer, published by Overlapse, is widely treasured and acclaimed as a ‘best photobook’ released in 2017. His first monograph, Disquiet, (Damiani, 2013) – a meditation on starting a family in a time of social unrest and uncertainty in America – was selected as one of the best books of the year by PDN, Photo Eye (Todd Hido) and Conscientious (Joerg Colberg). Amani’s photographs are also featured in the books Bystander: A History of Street Photography (2017 edition, Laurence King Publishing), Street Photography Now (Thames and Hudson), New York: In Color (Abrams), and have been published widely in media including American Photography, Newsweek, Harper’s, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine and The New York Review of Books. His work is held in collections such as The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The Sir Elton John Photography Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Oxford University, and Harvard University. Amani completed an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts, NY in 2012.
www.amaniwillett.com
Reviews + Press
“Willett weaves a spellbinding tapestry that is alternately tender, inspiring, and horrifying.” – Sara Rosen, Huck magazine
“A poignant dance between the celebratory and uplifting and the sinister.” – Dolly Meieran, 10×10 Photobooks
“Small, intense and very touching, mixing archival and personal images, a story that had to be told.” – Gabriela Cendoya, Collector
“A harrowing yet urgent title in a year in which the dangers posed to black people when out-and-about have been undeniable.” – Alex Merola, 1000 Words Magazine
“So important, timely and relevant.” – Anne McNeill, Director & Curator Impressions Gallery, Bradford
“The book brings readers on a voyage that begins as personal and progresses into a larger political, social and media-related journey.” – Kristen Gresh, Senior Curator of Photographs at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“Equal parts enlightening and enraging, Willett intrigues with portraits by turns delightful, reflective and devastating of a people who were forced into traveling a parallel road simply to partake in the pleasures afforded their white counterparts.” – Elin Spring & Suzanne Révy, What Will You Remember
“What a brilliant, brilliant publication, It’s so well thought through, and the whole production is perfectly realised.”
– David Campany, curator, writer, and Managing Director of Programs at the International Center of Photography, New York
“Willett’s photographs of drivers seem to exhibit a short film’s worth of emotion in the static frame.” – Matt Johnston, Photomonitor
See more:
Collector Daily review
Photo-eye Bookstore review by Blake Andrews
Photomonitor review
Open Studio with Jared Bowen, GBH TV interview (starts at 6:00 minutes)
The Heavy Collective
Review in Babelia, el País (Spanish)
British Journal of Photography
What Will You Remember?
BuzzFeed feature and Interview on the topic of ‘Sundown towns’
Humble Arts Foundation Interview with Jon Feinstein, “The American History of Driving While Black”
Boston Globe feature, “Picturing the all-American road trip (and its many hazards) for Black drivers”
Leica Blog
Huck magazine review by Sara Rosen
Real Photoshow Podcast Interview with Michael Chovan-Dalton
WBUR Radio Interview
James Cockroft review
Lenscratch feature by Aline Smithson
PopMatters
Creative Boom feature, “Parallel Road demonstrates the inherent cracks in the American Dream”
Il Post (Italian)
The Eye of Photography
Polka Magazine #52, Spring 2021
Special Notes
*SHORTLISTED PHotoESPAÑA Best International Photography Book of the Year 2022 – Exhibition June through August at PHotoESPAÑA Gallery, Madrid
*TOP 10 PHOTOBOOKS of 2021 selected by David Campany for ICP (International Center for Photography), NY
*TOP 10 PHOTOBOOKS OF 2021, Yogurt Magazine & the Paper Room (IT)
*BUZZFEED Photobooks That Brought Us Meaning And Joy In 2021
*30 photography books for 30 euros (or less) to give away this Christmas – Selected by Leire Etxazarra
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2021 – Eneka Fernandez, Curator
*Book of the Week at Photo-eye Bookstore
*Aperture Portfolio Prize Finalist 2021
*PetaPixel Great Reads in Photography – February 2021
*Buzzfeed 10 Photo Stories That Will Challenge Your View Of The World
*Book of the Month, February 2021 – Leica Fotografie International
*1000 Words Magazine Top 10 Photobooks of 2020, Selected by Alex Merola and Tim Clark
*Lensculture Favourite Photobooks of 2020 – Selected by Kristen Gresh, Senior Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts Boston
*Favourite Photobooks of 2020 – Gabriela Cendoya, Collector
*Favourite Photobooks of 2020 – Ola Søndenå, Department of Special Collections, University of Bergen Library
*Photo-eye Favorite Photobooks of 2020 – Honourable mention by Jon Feinstein, curator
*Best Photography Books of 2020 – Elizabeth Avedon, Curator + Designer
*Favorite Photobooks of 2020 – Elin Spring & Susanne Révy, What Will You Remember
*5 Photobooks of 2020 by Olmo Gonzalez, Co-director of Fiebre Photobook Festival
*SVA Gift Guide Recommended Books, New SVA Books to Gift this Holiday Season
*Polycopies 2020 Recommended Books
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2020 – Gabriela Cendoya, Collector
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2020 – Tim Clark, Editor in Chief at 1000 Words, writer, curator and lecturer
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2020 – Olga Yatskevich, 10×10 Photobooks Cofounder
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2020 – Gonzalo Golpe, Editor & Designer
*Bestseller Photoeye Bookstore, January, March and May 2021
*Bestseller, Fiebre Fest 2020 Bookmarket
Events 2022
8 June–24 July, A Parallel Road Main Exhibition at Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens 118 54, Greece
Events 2021
21 April 2021 at 7pm GMT on Zoom – Miniclick Photo Talk – Register here
6 January 2021 at 5.30pm PST on Zoom – “An Evening With” Series: Featured Presentations from Notable Photographers
Amani Willett in conversation with Aline Smithson of Lenscratch
Events 2020
4 December 2020 – Book launch INSTAsalon with 10×10 Photobooks, Amani Willett live on Instagram, 6pm GMT / 1pm EST
17 October 2020 – Amani Willett in conversation with Tiffany Jones, Bitesize Bookfair by Impressions Gallery (Instagram Live)
A Parallel Road (First Edition Softcover) is held in the following collections:
The British Library (UK)
Bodleian Libraries University of Oxford (UK)
Cambridge University Library (UK)
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ingalls Library (OH, USA)
École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (Arles, FR)
George Washington University (DC, USA)
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Eugene L Freel Library (USA)
MCLA Freel Library (MA, USA)
Museum of Modern Art – MOMA (NY, USA)
National Library of Scotland (UK)
National Library of Wales (UK)
Oak Park Public Library (IL, USA)
Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA, USA)
Pickler Memorial Library, Truman State University (MO, USA)
Rhode Island School of Design Library (USA)
San Telmo Museum – The Gabriela Cendoya Bergareche Collection (ES)
The Saxon State Library – State and University Library, Dresden (DE)
School of The Art Institute of Chicago – John M Flaxman Library (IL, USA)
Library of Trinity College Dublin (IE)
University College London (UK)
SUNY Sojourner Truth Library (NY, USA)
Wesleyan University Olin Library (CT, USA)
A Parallel Road (Second Edition Hardcover) is held in the following collections:
AGO Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives (Toronto, CA)
The British Library
FIRST EDITION Softcover details:
12.5 x 17 cm portrait, 112 pages
Hand-sewn single signature binding with buckram tape, uncut fore edge, printed wrapper
85 new photographs, archival images and digital screenshots
Publication November 2020 | ISBN: 9781999446840
