LONDON.- Hunter Barnes is one of the most significant and interesting documentary photographers working in America today. His beautifully sensitive photographs document aspects of American culture and communities ignored by the mainstream. Roadbook, published in November by Reel Art Press, is a mesmerizing and timeless collection of Hunter’s portraits. Hunter’s artistic gaze focuses on the faces of proud and diverse groups of people who are consistently misrepresented in the modern American narrative “For years I’ve traveled with my cameras capturing moments of time with the people the road has led to me.”

In 2012, Hunter’s book A Testimony of Serpent Handling, made headlines around the world for his extraordinary photographs of a community of serpent handlers in the Appalachian Mountains. In the same vein, the photographs in Roadbook capture rare moments and scenes most people will never get to experience first-hand during their lifetime. “To be able to form a bond with such disparate communities as the Rednecks, Nez Perce, Bloods, Serpent Handlers, CA State Prisoners, Bikers and Lowriders, is a rare thing,” comments Magnum Photos’ Michael Shulman in his afterword. “These are people that would probably not be at the same party, but Hunter has found something to share with all of them. They have all taken him in to their families and lives, for a while, and now we are privileged to see the result of that trust.”

Hunter cherishes the friendships he builds with people who recognize his sincerity and allow him access to their fascinating private worlds. After establishing their trust over meaningful dialogue and shared experiences, they allow him to frame them as they are and where they dwell. As Nathaniel Kilcer writes in his foreword, “Hunter leads with modest curiosity, expectation suspended, the journey his calling. He seeks out forgotten quarters and the stories concealed there.”

Hunter shoots exclusively in analogue using black and white film, “In the end, film provides a fitting metaphor for Hunter’s entire process: it takes a long time to earn the trust of these people, and it takes time to commit them to paper.”

Michael Shulman, comments, “Contemporary American culture has led to a homogenization and flattening of uniqueness and eccentricity but the people depicted here have managed to hold on to what makes them special. They are exuberantly out of the mainstream, and each group is like their own fiefdom.”

This is a very special volume and the journey that Hunter’s photographs take the viewer on, and the people he encounters on the way, will live long in the memory.

Also available in four limited edition versions: Each edition is limited to 4 copies only and all are signed and numbered by photographer Hunter Barnes. These luxury collector’s items are each presented in a bespoke slipcase. Each edition includes a limited edition, numbered photograph unique to that edition. The photographs are fiber based silver gelatin archival prints, hand printed by the artist from an edition of 4.

About Reel Art Press: R|A|P stands for exceptional taste and a unique curatorial eye. It stands for luxury and class, the highest production values, and a sensitivity to an eclectic selection of subject matter and material. It stands for rare, unpublished and unusual work including subjects with mass appeal and limited editions with unlimited potential. The company has made headlines around the world with its previous releases, which include: The Rat Pack, Hollywood and the Ivy Look, The Kennedys by Mark Shaw, Unseen McQueen and Billy Name: The Silver Age.