The Outlook

George R. Stewart's 1953 book U.S. 40 contained 114 photographs and essays that focused on everyday life along the highway that ran from Atlantic City to San Francisco.  Stewart called it a 'cross section of the United States.'  For the past six years, Frank Brusca has been visiting those scenes and documenting the changes that have taken place.  

"The changes I have recorded range from the subtle to the significant," Brusca said.  "In some places there has been negligible change.  In comparing some of the older and newer photographs only the automobiles are different.  On the other hand," he continues, "the changes can be significant.  A historic colonial home replaced with a parking lot.  A once thriving small town business district is now a collection of struggling shops. A busy mountain pass is now an abandoned dirt road.  Once scene is now thirty feet underwater."

His 'time machine' is the result of computer technology he uses to compare the older and newer photographs.  With a few mouse clicks he is able to perform more thorough analyses, comparing features in one photo to features in the other.  "By looking back at what once existed, we gain an understanding of our past and an idea of how we have arrived at our present state."

Two things stand out for Brusca.  "The first thing you see in the photographs is that the Interstate Highways have now made Route 40 mostly a sleepy backwater thoroughfare," Brusca commented.  The other finding was surprising.  "Despite sprawl and farmland loss, America has become much greener than it was in the early 1950s.  The deforested landscapes from 1950 are now lush with trees."

For the past six years Brusca has funded all aspects of his Route 40 rephotography project.  Now, however, he has turned to crowd funding as a means to complete his project in time for the 60th anniversary of the release of Stewart's U.S. 40.  "I was pleased when Kickstarter.com approved my proposal.  I'm hopeful that people who live along Route 40 and those who enjoy then-and-now photography will provide the support needed to complete this final phase.  It???s a race against time, but I'm certain I'll make it. "