This work is from my recently-published book, All The Past We Leave Behind. The book includes portraits of, and interviews with, people called Workampers. Workampers are people who typically live in an RV or van and maintain no fixed address, instead moving between temporary and seasonal jobs.

Typical jobs include caretaking at national parks and campsites, gate-guarding for oil companies, working at RV parks, and other gig-type positions. Jobs usually last a few months at a time. Increasingly Workampers are used as manual labor for large corporate retailers. As employees Workampers have few protections and little security. They are a workforce that is cheap and easily replaceable.

The growth of Workamping is a symptom of increasing wealth inequality in the United States. It is a way of life that can make it difficult to meet basic human needs. Moving every few months means a lack of stable, long-term community and relationships outside of the immediate family. Healthcare is often unavailable or unreliable, and safety and security can be precarious. Some positives of the lifestyle, cited by workampers, are things like a sense of freedom, low cost-of-living, and an escape from the 9-to-5 world. As Workampers often seek to re-create the feel and aesthetics of mainstream domestic life, I create portraits that situate them within their vision of domesticity. The familiar surroundings provide points of identification for the viewer while simultaneously highlighting the placelessness of Workamper existence. I want viewers to see real people with real lives; it’s vital that they be shown as individuals with dignity and humanity. I want to present portraits of people who viewers are able able to identify with.