Braschler, Fischer

When Donald Trump was elected to be the forty-fifth president of the United States in 2016, Swiss photographers Monika Fischer and Mathias Braschler were in New York. The results of the election showed a deep divide running through the US and its society?a widening gap dividing the progressive and conservative forces, the urban and the rural, the ?red? center of the country and the ?blue? coasts. In his first term President Trump did not help to bridge this gap. With his personal style and racist-inflammatory political campaigns, the situation has worsened, especially during the Covid?19 pandemic and the riots of May/June 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. But Trump?s election was only a consequence of this divide. Monika Fischer and Mathias Braschler decided to go on a field-research trip through the US in order to meet the people, from all parts of the country and all parts of society. In April 2019 they started a road trip with a van converted to a practical motorhome including a pop up photo-studio. After leaving New York City they drove 15.000 miles across the nation and visited 40 States. On this self-assigned project they met, interviewed, filmed, and portrayed Americans with a wide variety of backgrounds and very different opinions about life, politics, and their nation.