HARD.LAND – A Journey through the US Rust Belt

Youngstown, Ohio, USA James London, AKA Big Jim, at home with one of his dogs. He started a neigbourhood watch in Youngstown after he moved there following a jail sentence for drug trafficking. 'This neighbourhood was a mess. Drug dealers on the corners, garbage everywhere, abandoned houses and a lot of crime. We have worked hard, cleaning up this area, painting empty houses, demolishing empty buildings creating small parks and so on. Today, this area is actually a lot better', says Big Jim.

Espen Rasmussen’s “Hard.Land” is on view at the 8th edition of FotoArtFestival in Bielsko-Bia?a, Poland, from October 11 to 27, 2019. In “Hard.Land,” Espen investigates what has happened to the former middle class in the Rust Belt, and the consequences of low income, unemployment, drugs, and their departure from the former industrial towns.

As part of the “Authors’ Marathon” on Saturday, October 12, Espen will give a presentation about his long-term projects. In addition to “Hard.Land,” Espen will discuss the project “Transit,” about refugees and displaced people around the world, and “White Rage,” a one-year journey among right-wing people in the U.S. and Europe.