Prologue by Andrew Querner

Issue 42

Soon after arriving from their respective countries of Japan and Austria my mother and father would meet a birthday party in Billings, Montana in the year 1969. Much later, after discovering a cardboard, fold-out menu from the Big Boy restaurant that my father had kept as a souvenir, I began to wonder about my parents' first encounters with the American landscape. Before making my own pilgrimage by car to Billings from my home in Alberta I asked them to recall as many details as they could: first impressions, past residences, daily routines, people who helped, weekend excursions, news of the day. In tandem with a road map, the information on the list acted as a guide for when to pull over, get out and look. If nothing else, the simple act of making these pictures has given me a sense of the boldness they embraced in leaving home for the States and later, Canada.

Andrew Querner is a Canmore, Alberta, Canada based photographer.
To view more of Andrew's work, please visit his website.

Burnt forest, 2011 

Burnt forest, 2011 

Roadside camp, 2011 

Roadside camp, 2011 

Near Smokey Lane, 2011 

Near Smokey Lane, 2011 

KPRK, 2011 

KPRK, 2011 

Yellowstone Paper Company, 2011 

Yellowstone Paper Company, 2011 

Snow fences, 2011 

Snow fences, 2011 

Alden Hall, 2011 

Alden Hall, 2011 

Laundromat, 2011 

Laundromat, 2011 

Pears, 2011 

Pears, 2011 

Billings airport, 2011 

Billings airport, 2011 

Mary, 2011 

Mary, 2011 

Julio, 2011 

Julio, 2011 

Steering wheel, 2011 

Steering wheel, 2011 

Desert, 2011 

Desert, 2011 

Three friends, 2011 

Three friends, 2011 

Dew, 2011 

Dew, 2011 

Yellowstone, 2011 

Yellowstone, 2011 

Crow Rock Road, 2011 

Crow Rock Road, 2011