Background information
"In the early 1970s, Jacob HOLDT left his native Denmark and arrived in the U.S. with 40 dollars in his pocket. He meant to zip through the country on his way to South America, but he was so shocked and fascinated by what he saw here that he decided to stay a while. When his family was skeptical about the poverty he described in letters home, his father shipped over a cheap amateur camera, asking for proof, and he began to create this portrait of America and its underclass. In the end, Jacob HOLDT spent five years as a vagabond, selling his blood twice a week and hitch-hiking over 100,000 miles. He befriended whoever offered him a ride, and a ride frequently became an offer to stay a few days. He never said no, and in the end visited more than 350 homes, where he photographed the people he lived with: poor families, millionaires, junkies, members of the Ku Klux Klan. Content
The images in the photo volume 'United States. 1970 - 1975' by Jacob HOLDT echo the work of the WPA, and have inspired Lars Van Trier among others." (© Steidl Verlag, 2007)
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