Drive-Through States is a photographic exploration of the landscapes that are often seen as nothing more than what lies between “real” destinations. These places are frequently labeled as flyover or drive-through territory—flat, familiar, and forgettable from the outside looking in. But for the people who call them home, these spaces hold entire lifetimes, memories, relationships, and identities.

This series looks closely at that quiet beauty. Through stillness, repetition, and the wide-open horizon, I wanted to reveal how a place that others pass through without a second thought can become the center of someone’s world. The photographs invite viewers to imagine what it means to know the rest of the world exists, yet mostly encounter it from a distance—through roads, screens, and stories—while living deeply rooted in one particular landscape.

Rather than romanticizing or dismissing these environments, Drive-Through States asks us to reconsider them. There is depth, complexity, and humanity here. There is beauty in what appears ordinary. And there is meaning in the way a single stretch of land can shape the entirety of a person’s life.