Tumbleweed — West Texas, 2015

"Tumbleweed" — West Texas, 2015 Fine Art Print — Roadside Series by Thomas Hoeffgen

Joshua found it on the side of the road and just picked it up.

That's all it took. One arm raised, a dried tumbleweed held high against the West Texas sky, the highway running straight and empty behind him all the way to the vanishing point. Dark coat, camera bag at his side, standing in the dry grass at the edge of the asphalt like he's offering something to the landscape — or claiming it.

The road goes on forever in both directions. Mountains sit flat and distant on the right horizon. The sky is that specific shade of deep blue that only exists out here, where the air is thin and clean and there is nothing tall enough to interrupt it. A single car is visible in the far distance, tiny, barely there.

Everything in this frame is still except the tumbleweed — which has been still for a long time.

This is the cover image of the Roadside book. It earned that. Of all the miles, all the stops, all the moments between Chicago and Los Angeles, this one — Joshua, a dead plant, and ten thousand acres of nothing — somehow says everything.

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.