One Mile Out — Marfa, Texas, 2015

"One Mile Out" — Marfa, Texas, 2015 Fine Art Print — Roadside Series by Thomas Hoeffgen

One mile from Marfa. Nobody could wait.

Amanda is standing on the roof of the Land Rover, looking out over a landscape that goes on forever — golden grass, flat earth, mountains barely visible on the horizon, a sky so clean and wide it makes everything beneath it feel like a stage set. Joshua is on the ground beside the Rover, camera already up, shooting whatever he's seeing from down there. The telephone pole rises straight through the center of the frame, power lines cutting diagonally across the sky like a signature.

They pulled over for nothing. There was nothing to pull over for. That's exactly why they stopped.

This is the thing about the West Texas road — the nothing is so beautiful it demands you stop. No landmark, no sign, no reason. Just the particular quality of the light at that moment, the way the dry grass holds it, the way the sky sits on the mountains in the distance, the way the road runs perfectly straight toward a town you can't see yet but know is there. One mile out and already Marfa is doing its thing.

The blue Land Rover. The yellow canvas roof rack. Amanda on top seeing everything. Joshua on the ground catching it.

From the Roadside series — a road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles along Route 66, shot on assignment for Timberland that evolved into a self-published book and PDN Photo Annual Award winner (2016).

Available as a museum-quality fine art print on premium archival paper, in multiple sizes. Signed by the artist.