'Ain't Never Left the South but Once' Photographs by Casey Doran
'Ain't Never Left the South but Once'
is a collection of photographs shot on Casey Doran's cross-country trip over a two-week period. Doran explores themes from his earlier work in new landscapes, including lo-fi photography, isolation, and his signature use of white bread. The expose also includes words and mediations by traveling companions Kinsey & Ryan Lambert.
By: Ryan Lambert & Kinsey Adriano
Originally published October 25, 2017, by Plasma Magazine
Big Timber, Montana
Interior, South Dakota
RL: I thought back to what the first men and women to see this natural wonder must have thought. Theory: some passed out in shock, some fell to their knees and cried out to a god that wasn't listening.
Murdo, South Dakota
Topeka, Kansas
KA: Kansas penetrated my sleep deprived mind as prepossessing havoc seeped through my veins. Kansas, like my desired lover, made me scream. I teemed with excitement having just driven thirteen consecutive hours straight from Georgia.
Topeka, Kansas
KA: The dark streets of Kansas City spit us out in Topeka to witness the black of night fade into early lilac. The lilac illuminated Westboro Baptist Church, which I had driven two hours out of the way to see, in order to fulfill some vague prophecy of Casey Doran's fifteen year old self.
Valentine, Nebraska
KA: When we crossed the state line into Nebraska, into the land of corn, I pressed my lips to the window. I was feeling in tune and amid a state of new experiences. It was Alora's turn to look at the land with wide eyes. When we were in high school, she named her stomach "Nebraska," and never gave me a reason why. Being in the state for the first time filled her with some inexplicable emotion. She wore the emotion well.
Valentine, Nebraska
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Alamogordo, New Mexico
RL: The stony desolation of the desert was private enough for us to strip down to our underwear and frolic around in bathrobes.
Alamogordo, New Mexico
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
KA: Never trust your eyes out west because they will always play too hard with your imagination. The Badlands taught me this, as I was convinced the jagged silhouette in front of me was a castle.
Scenic, Arizona
Hurricane, Utah
Unknown
Keystone, South Dakota
KA: I dragged a loaf of bread through the crowd and pathway marked by flags. Mount Rushmore was an honest waste of time. We all knew it but went anyways because our parents said we had to. They wanted us to go be proud of America's history. I balanced the bread on my head, though. A sign of respect for the past presidents.
Moenkopi, Arizona
Interior, South Dakota
KA: After being rejected from the entire town of Valentine over a quarter horse sale, we resorted to the trucker town of Murdo. Between the two towns I saw this crumbling house off the highway, clearly abandoned and rotting away, lost in time. The grey dusk cast a sinister glow over it causing me to shudder into a moment of ambient sadness.
Phoenix, Arizona
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Las Vegas, Nevada
RL: The Cosmopolitan - hotel, casino, bar, playground for society's smiling underbelly - rewards shitty gambling with free, less-shitty alcoholic beverages.
Las Vegas, Nevada
RL: I am brought to my senses by a senseless conversation happening nearby: a family discussing the possible humanitarian benefits of shooting their rifles into the eye of the hurricane.
Las Vegas, Nevada
