Old trucks have become very popular in recent years as iconic Americana and cool folk art. Old trucks were not always on my radar, but in recent years I began to see them as picturesque subjects for my photography. That led to amassing a body of work over a decade of traveling, and to publishing my first book on the subject, Elder Trucks: America’s Love of Old Trucks. Moreover, in just two years since then I found hundreds more old trucks and realized that I had quickly accumulated enough images for a second book.

Which gets to the subject of perception and how our passion for something leads to increased awareness and ability to find it—in this case more old trucks. This may be a function of the collector mindset. I’ve always been a packrat, gathering all manner of objects that catch my fancy. I’ve become so good at finding old trucks that now I pass up photographing some of them. I’m getting more selective—looking for uniqueness, color, and compelling settings. I’m beginning to wonder if old pickups will sprout up in my yard overnight like mushrooms.

In the first Elder Trucks book I included considerable text, trying to impart wit, structure, and context. It doesn’t seem necessary to do that again here, so this is a visual book. I suppose this is taking the easy road, but if my photography is good enough these images will speak for themselves—at least a thousand words each.