In Tibetan, the term ‘Bardo’ literally means “between two” and is translated as the place in between two states of existence. It's the gap between one way of being that has ended but the next has not yet begun. Although most often used to refer to the state between death and rebirth, there are actually six Bardo states; others being dreams, meditation and life itself.
I find a long journey on the interstate to be a kind of bardo. When we enter the interstate, we leave where we were, and life is paused until we arrive at our destination and time resumes its forward trajectory. Standardized features in the landscape repeat themselves endlessly – further enhancing the feeling we could be anywhere or nowhere. If we choose to unplug from demands on our attention, we can quiet our over-stimulated minds and lose ourselves in contemplation and introspection. It is an opportunity to objectively consider our personal circumstances and our role in our communities. At times, the isolation of the car is troubling, and we feel the urge to reconnect with other human beings. We peer into each passing car and find the passengers returning our gaze.
As a driver and an inhabitant of this bardo, I create landscapes of these non-places as well as portraits of my fellow travelers. The landscapes set the mood, creating the psychological space for the portraits, and providing the context for them. I select portraits that speak to the experience of being outside of time and place, images of people who experience the interstate journey as I do, images of people that share my conflicting need for isolation and connection.