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George Stewart Photo Locations

George Stewart U.S. 40 Photographs - Nevada

In 1949 and again the following year, George R. Stewart made two cross-country treks on U.S. Route 40. All told, he spent almost four months on the road photographing and documenting the landscape and everyday life along the road. His purpose was to record what he saw as he passed. His record captured the grand and the mundane. The resulting book, U.S. 40, was published in 1953. Accompanying his 114 photographs were 92 interpretive essays written in an accessible and enlightening manner. It provides readers with an armchair view of a roadtrip across the continent.

For the past 40+ years I've been revisiting all of the scenes in the book and documenting changes that have occurred since the mid-twentieth century. (In 1983 Thomas and Geraldine Vale published an update titled U.S. 40 Today that showed 72 of the 114 scenes (63%). For the past few years I have been revisiting each scene and shooting a variety of media including:

  • High resolution digital images.
  • Medium format B&W negatives and color transparencies using a camera that is an exact clone to the one Stewart used.
  • 35mm B&W negatives and color transparencies.
  • 360-degree virtual reality images of each scene.

My goal is to have these images published in the first complete update to Stewart's original book. Here are links to many of my U.S. 40 photographs. If you are a publisher and are interested in my work, please contact me.

Great BasinGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 72 - Great Basin (Wells, NV)
"This was probably the most dangerous of the George Stewart photographs to shoot. It requires standing in the middle if I-80 with your back to traffic......"

Pequop SummitGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 73 - Pequop Summit (Wells, NV)
"This vantage point is slightly downhill from Stewart's original......."

Sun on the HighwayGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 74 - Sun on the Highway (Elko, NV)
"The eastbound lanes are the original alignment of Route 40......."

Emigrant PassGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 75 - Emigrant Pass (Beowawe, NV)
"I had a nice long chat with a Nevada Highway Patrolman while shooting this. He was really excited about my project. Notice that the range land to th......"

Tie HouseGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 76 - Tie House (Valmy, NV)
"This vantage point is slightly to the east of the original. This location is on the grounds of a gold mining operation. Be sure to check with the mi......"

PlayaGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 77 - Playa (Pumpernickel, NV)
"This location is just off an on ramp to I-80......."

Golconda SummitGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 78 - Golconda Summit (Golconda, NV)
"Without a doubt, this is my favorite location. I've shot this scene a half dozen times over the year. Access to the site is on an abandoned section ......"

ImlayGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 79 - Imlay (Imlay, NV)
"It wasn't until I got home and overlayed the old and new photos did I realize the phone pale was in the exact same location......."

The Forty Mile DesertGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 80 - The Forty Mile Desert (NV)
"I plan to hire a plane in Reno to do some aerial photography in the near future......."

Lohontan StoryGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 81 - Lohontan Story (Wadsworth, NV)
"This is a tough vantage point to locate. I figured that landmarks in the photo would make it easy to find - but that was a terrible assumption. I wa......"

First PinesGeorge Stewart U.S. 40 Photograph No. 82 - First Pines (Verdi, NV)
"This was shot at the east end of the westernmost bridge over the Truckee River in Verdi......."

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Feedback: Do you have corrections or contributions for this page? Want to make a suggestion? Click here to send me an e-mail. I am espcially interested in memories, stories, postcards and photographs. Thanks!

Frank

Last updated: 2011-04-01 19:37:06

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