Photographer Anastasia Samoylova embarked on a remarkable journey along the US East Coast, retracing a historic photographic expedition from 70 years ago. Her project, titled "Atlantic Coast," follows the path of renowned American photographer Berenice Abbott, who in 1954 set out to document US Route 1, anticipating major changes to small towns and cities caused by the rapidly expanding Interstate Highway System. Samoylova's contemporary interpretation reveals how America's landscape continues to be shaped by infrastructure, ideology, and illusion.
Samoylova's photographic expedition began in her home state of Florida and ended in Maine, reversing Abbott's original route. Her images explore Route 1's enduring impact as a corridor of commerce, migration, and myth, capturing a nation fragmented by environmental crisis, political nostalgia, and unchecked development. The photographer describes her work as a commentary on how the United States has never truly reckoned with the original sins of its founding, particularly slavery and genocide, causing the past to appear like "the return of the repressed" in many of her images.
Among the striking images in Samoylova's collection is "Gun Ring, New York, 2024," taken at the Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade. The photograph captures a woman's hand resting against a flag-patterned shawl, adorned with beaded bracelets and a rhinestone pistol ring. Samoylova explains that while the gesture appears small, it opens up larger conversations about patriotism, personal style, and the presence of gun culture in everyday American life. The image exemplifies how her work finds profound meaning in seemingly ordinary moments.
The environmental crisis facing America is vividly illustrated in "Drying Jeans, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 2024." After devastating floods turned parts of Fort Lauderdale into a temporary inland sea, Samoylova discovered an improbable scene: a perfect row of jeans laid out to dry while floodwater still filled the street below. A small American flag hangs beside the denim, creating tension between everyday routine and the reality of climate change. The photographer describes the image as symbolic of ordinary domestic life being carefully reassembled on shifting and uncertain ground.
One of the most historically significant photographs is "Removal of John C Calhoun Statue, Charleston, South Carolina, 2020." The image shows a Black woman watching the removal of the controversial Confederate monument while a baby naps on the grass nearby. Samoylova notes the contrast between the quiet foreground and the historic shift happening behind it, drawing connections to Robert Frank's iconic work "The Americans." She sees this as an inversion of Frank's narrative, with a caretaker witnessing the dismantling of a symbol that once upheld the very hierarchy preserved in Frank's famous photograph.
Urban decay and renewal are explored in "Princess Tree, Baltimore, Maryland, 2024," which shows delicate blossoms against a battered building facade. Samoylova explains that this building was once part of a thriving neighborhood that Abbott photographed in 1954, when row houses were inhabited by industrial workers whose jobs have long since disappeared. The princess tree, an invasive species that grows quickly, serves as a metaphor for what remains when industry collapses and investment drains away, holding both beauty and neglect in a single frame.
The stark contrasts of modern American life are captured in "Demolition Site, Miami, Florida, 2025," which shows a perfectly coiffed woman scrolling her phone in the foreground while a building is demolished behind her. The excavator bears the words "Watch it come down," creating an almost surreal scene where luxury and ruin coexist within feet of each other. This image encapsulates Miami's uneasy balance as a place where glamour and collapse exist in uncomfortable proximity.
Samoylova's work also examines American consumer culture through images like "Two Cars, East Harlem, New York, 2024," featuring old cars parked nose to tail whose colors echo the small-windowed, low-income housing aesthetics of the brick apartment blocks behind them. The photograph reflects the relentless sameness of American consumer culture that the photographer encountered throughout her travels.
The project includes "Historical Re-enactor, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 2024," an image that deliberately blurs the line between past and present. Samoylova provides no visual clues to suggest this isn't a historical photograph, other than the title and technical qualities of the image itself. This ambiguity reinforces her theme of how America's past continues to intrude upon its present.
Anastasia Samoylova's work has been exhibited internationally and featured in numerous publications, with pieces held in permanent collections throughout the United States. Her "Atlantic Coast" project is available through Aperture Books, with accompanying text by New York-based writer and critic Aruna D'Souza. The collection stands as a powerful testament to how contemporary photography can illuminate both the visible and invisible forces shaping American society today.
