Ian Brown - American Dreams: Portraits & Stories of a Country

Acknowledgments

As with any creative endeavor, this project is the culmination of a lot of peoples assistance, contributions, sacrifice, and trust. The most intimidating point of any long-term undertaking is generally mile one, when the end seems so far off. It takes vision to both see the objective and to understand the value of things revealing themselves naturally. So, first, a huge thanks for the discussions, assistance, and sound advice from my longtime friends James Fraser, Scott Yamada, Ruth Zuchter, and Bob Stronach. I am grateful for our many formidable talks and moments of realignment. A heartfelt thanks to Eric Firstenberg and Scott Spector, who have provided laughter, a place to lay a weary head, positive support, and intelligent advice over a great many excursions to America. To the Eibsa huge thanks to you and Kim for so many funny and enlightening conversations, and for helping out and being supportive when things looked bleak.

There are many more people who deserve mention: Rob and Tanya Fraser, Laura Janzen, Michelle Fraser, Aig and Mary Holmes, Ian and Kathryn Nicol, Elena Pacienza, Liz Hampton, Ian Arnold, Jesse Bond, Lindsay Brown and Ziggy Strawczynski, Shea Post, and Antoinette Harrell. You have all been so helpful and supportive. A big thanks to Leonard Tam for seeing the vision of this and helping me make it come to fruition.

Serendipity is a magical thing, and for that I am grateful to Maya Mavjee for her belief. Immense thanks go to Kaitlin Ketchum and Lorena Jones at Ten Speed Press for taking a leap of faith on this project; especially to Kaitlin for keeping the compass pointed in the right direction. Likewise, many thanks to Emma Campion, who is a design guru. To the rest of the team at Ten Speed Press and Penguin Random House, especially Serena Sigona, Jane Chinn, Mari Gill, Windy Dorresteyn, and David Hawk, a big thanks for all your efforts and enthusiasm. To Hilary McMahon, my agent, for smoothing out the wrinkles and being so behind all this.

A common theme of which people wrote when asked about their American Dream is the notion of family. In my case, I am lucky to have family who offer guidance, positivity, and love. Patty McCarthy, my mom, taught me that you should leave a place better than when you arrived, and I try to live by that credo. To my dad, Ron Brown, and his wife, Margo McCuthcheon, thank you for all of your caring nature and consistent ebullience. Kelly Greene, my sister, has more strength and compassion than most people I have known, and she has helped me in numerous ways on countless occasions. To my grandparents, Ethel and John Brown, who were there for that first experience on that hot summer day so long ago, I have to say thanks for instilling in me the importance of being kind, gracious, and always curious.

A huge penultimate thanks has to go to everyone I met along the way of this project, to all the people who are in this book, and to the many other people I photographed and have crossed paths with. I have been enriched with a lifetime of experiences and stories, and have learned so much from being able to share in your lives. I am so grateful that you all believed in this idea, and, despite having no prior connection to me, that you opened your doors and became part of something that hopefully is enduring and important. Im grateful and humbled.

Last, for my daughter Miya. Shes nine years old, but wise and caring and funny beyond her years. When I called her from a desolate location in Texas, she asked where I was. When I said Im in the middle of nowhere, she paused and replied, Nope, thats not possible, Dad, you always have to be in the middle of somewhere. All the miles of driving, being away from home, working hard to make enough to keep this going and see it through to the last milethis is for you, Miya Grace. You remind me to always be present and to be where you are.

About the Author

Ian Brown is an award-winning photographer whose work focuses on the human condition and the intersection of social and cultural divides. His portraits are acclaimed for their simple depth of emotion and honesty.

Brown grew up dividing his time between urban Toronto and the rural highlands of Northern Ontario. The aesthetic juxtaposition of these two locations informed his appreciation for a sense of culture, place, and landscape.

He survived cancer at the age of nineteen, a heart attack at thirty-two, and being shot at in the middle of a civil war in Colombia while on assignment for Doctors Without Borders/Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF).

Browns other notable photography projects include documenting HIV survivors in Malawi, Africa; a continuing documentary series on the opioid epidemic; and a long-term study on the urban anthropology of Detroit.

He began the American Dreams Project in 2007. While logging more than 80,000 miles of driving across America, Brown had the privilege of being invited onto front porches and into peoples homes in all fifty states. This is his first book.

He divides time between Toronto and a cabin outside Algonquin Park in Canada.

For more on the American Dreams Project, visit americandreamsproject.org.

Bethlyn and Nick, Stinson Beach, California, photographed in 2007

Bethlyn and Nick now live in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Our American Dream is to live free from the frivolous needs of society. Break away from the hypocrisy, and practice a life of self sufficientcy. Give up on the gridlock of everday strife and make everday matter by experiencing.

Life

Qiana Towns, Flint, Michigan, photographed in 2015

Qiana holds an MFA in poetry and is a lifelong resident of Flint.

My American Dream

College education

$ $ $ $

Homeownership (white picket fence + outdoor pool)

Beamer or Benz

Investment Portfolio

Travel

Marriage (Idris Elba preferred)

Equal Rights

Start a Business

Vacation Home (Italy?)

Friends in high places

Love. Peace. & Soul!

Aid American dreamers in achieving their American dream. Make a contribution to humanity. Live & let live. Poems. Oh, and clean water for my city, my children, and myself.

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Kaitlynn Cates, Boston, Massachusetts, photographed in 2015

Kaitlynn was severely injured and lost part of her calf while standing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon when it was bombed in 2013.

I have always been a pusher. Testing my limits: physical pain, tolerance, and mental strength. When someone tells me NO, how can I turn that into YES? Someone sees all black but I see a smidge of white, how can I show them. Challenges entice me. No one governs your capabilities other than YOU. This is a lesson and a way of life that I always find myself falling back on when I fail. Failure can be beautiful, it drives you to dig deeper to find a better solution/method which helps you discover a different more powerful side of yourself. Having lost my right calf in the 2013 Marathon Bombings, I suffered physical and mental pain which I overcame with the mentality expressed above. I was broken in every way. I took on a whole new list of challenges and succeeded in finding happiness. I help people daily with finding the right home. I am healthy. I contribute one hour per day to physical activity. I make time to communicate with all of my blessings as often as possible. This life I have today is my American Dream.