~ the map ~
An ongoing field study · 2017 → ∞
Field Notes of A Dream
America, half‑remembered —
watched by someone
still arriving.
the tally so far →
9 yrs
awake
4,612
moments
19
states
41k mi
drifted
AK↔HI
the poles
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~ specimens ~
CHAPTER II — pinned & labelled
Apparitions, catalogued.
closing time
The cooks, after closing. Aprons like saints, neon refusing to hold still.
Bozeman, Montana · 202345.7°N
Photographing the ice as it leaves.
Seward, AK · 201860.1°N
A line drawn in the sand.
San Diego, CA · 202232.5°N
A cathedral of plenty.
Gallup, NM · 202235.5°N
Wax pretending; everyone believes.
Madame Tussauds, NYC · 202240.7°N
War, made a jungle gym.
Pennsylvania · 202340.0°N
A private ritual, performed in public.
New York City · 201840.7°N
what the dream keeps showing me ↓
screens & cameras
≈28%
flags & monuments
≈22%
borders & thresholds
≈16%
melting ice & ruins
≈12%
wax & the unreal
≈8%
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~ readings ~
CHAPTER III — the instruments disagree
Readings, at dusk.
The American Dream Index
61%?
needle won’t hold still
spikes at monuments & supermarkets.
collapses at borders & melting ice.
collapses at borders & melting ice.
last calibrated — a diner, Montana, dusk.
Dream-o-gram · four feelings, always overlapping
wonder
social distance
a new beauty
tender unease
∞
beauties, redefined
0
moments that behaved
dusk
best viewing hour
“I photograph this country the way you write down a dream before it leaves —
fast, & a little wrong, & truer for it.”
as seen in LENSCRATCH & Musée Magazine, 2022
Field Notes of A Dream — re-dreaming “The Dreamers.” Figures are field-notes, not census.
Ali Motamedi
PHOTOGRAPHY · 2017 → ∞
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