The Trip Across America That Changed My Life
A Photographer’s Story

Edge of Humanity Magazine

2 hours ago

Photographer Maurizio Rampa is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘The Crossing’. To see Maurizio ’s body of work, click on any photograph.

It was on May 27 of 2017, I had just turned 25, and America had elected Donald Trump as its 45th president.

Up to that time I had known life only through cinema, music and books, and for me the majority of all that came from America.

All at once it felt as if it was the right time to start hitting the road and to find out what all those dreams were made of. The day before my leaving I decided to buy my first film camera, a Nikon FE, the cheapest I could find on Ebay.

I was just a kid having fun, and never could I have imagined the consequences of that choice. Chance would have it that I never walked out on a journey without my camera ever since.

These pictures mark the beginning of my adventures, the crossing of that shadow-line, which as Joseph Conrad wrote, is there to warn one that the region of early youth must be left behind.

I’m a self-taught Italian photographer who lives a nomadic life around the world. After working for many years in the film industry and as an independent filmmaker, I decided to change my path and live a different life, often on the margins of society. My passion for visual storytelling, strongly influenced by my love of cinema, has been transferred into the images that I started to take with my film camera while traveling. Photography now guides my wanderings, shapes my personal journey, teaches me to live in the present moment and constantly reminds me to always trust the process.

All images and text © Maurizio Rampa