Travels in Southern Texas by Jake Peterson

This week, we’re featuring a travel series from film photographer Jake Peterson of his time in southern Texas. Here is more from Jake about creating this series…

The first thing you find out once you step foot in South Texas is that nothing – and I mean nothing – was intended to live there. The heat swelters and folds in tenfold with the humidity, making the “Devil’s Cocktail” in the tail-end of the Bible Belt. I was around the San Antonio area with these images, capturing the remainders of the rotting away Americana. However, here it was much more than the typical Americana – it was a crossroads of dreams. The border blended away for many back in the day, and you were free to live between the two. You could be just as American as you were Mexican. You’ll find this dream has vanished: the family-run businesses have folded up shop and ran for the hill country. The small-town and the humble origins are fleeing San Antonio. The hope I had was to capture all of it and find some story from the boarded-up windows and neon before it disappeared into the skyscrapers.

Analog cameras and films used: Olympus OM-1 (Find at KEH Camera or on eBay), Bronica GS-1 (Find at KEH Camera or on eBay) | Kodak Portra 400 (Find on Amazon), Kodak Portra 800 (Find on Amazon), Kodak Ektar 100 (Find on Amazon), CineStill 800T (Find on Amazon)

Connect with Jake: Website | Instagram

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