Cross Country in a 1970 Buick GS 350
2012
After my first freelance stint I was feeling pretty…well, free. So when my old partner from Wieden asked if I wanted to re-up and go back in house, I was kinda conflicted. I enjoyed my newfound freedom, but I loved working with the guy and loving going to work is a pretty big deal.
So, I gathered some friends and went on a cross-country road trip for a few weeks before getting back on the fulltime grind. But I wasn’t interested in renting a Camry. I wanted an aesthetic experience, full of romance and wind and color. So I bought a 1970 Buick GS 350—which is kinda complicated when you don’t have a driver’s license—and we drove that thing from Long Island to Los Angeles. These are some of the images of that trip.
I kept the car in LA for a few years, where my partner and I used it for shoots and things.
I agreed to give it to him if he could get it back to the east coast, and when he drove it back it broke down right on the Vegas strip. Now it’s in Maine, ready to run again.
If you liked this vibe,
you might also like the people who worked on it:
Giacomo Fortunato, Photography
Giacomo’s photos of this trip have gone on to achieve critical acclaim:
2017 / 57th Venice Biennale, Personal Structures - Open Borders Exhibition. Coexistence series.
2015 / Magenta Foundation, Flash Forward 2015. Coexistence series, United States winner.
2014 / International Photo Awards. Coexistence series, 3rd Place (people-lifestyle category).
Jamie Carreiro, Videography
Byron Lee, Speech Pathology
And if you might also like these things:
Hot at the Lot
A party I threw in an empty lot for like, 10 years.
Partner Quotes
What I did after this trip.
The New York Times
What I did right before this trip.