Vector Portraits / Andrew Bush

Andrew Bush, a native of St. Louis, came to Los Angeles to attend college in 1975 and has been intermittently pursuing the Vector Portraits series since 1989. Captured on the expansive roadways of Los Angeles and across the West, the work speaks to a democratic American ideal—not just that of the open road, but the personal vehicular space sacred to Angelenos who spend so much time ensconced en route. Bush’s photographs allow access into those private moments, defying the fleeting nature of car culture. The viewer holds the privileged role of voyeur, observing and surveilling the oftentimes-unaware subjects.

Here’s a series of portraits by photographer Andrew Bush. The photos were documented while traveling 50 to 70 mph in Los Angeles and other parts of the Southwestern United States.

–@s_iravani

via Los Angeles Times

Man drifting northwest at approximately 68 mph on U.S. Route 101 somewhere near Camarillo, California, one evening in 1989

Woman caught in traffic while heading southwest on U.S. Route 101 near the Topanga Canyon Boulevard exit, Woodland Hills, California, at 5:38 in the summer of 1989

Man traveling southeast on U.S. Route 101 at approximately 71 mph somewhere around Camarillo, California, on a summer evening in 1994

Women racing southwest at 41 mph along 26th Street near the Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, California, at 1:14 p.m. on a Tuesday in February 1997.