PROJECTS

The Long Way Home

A Documentary Exploration of People, Place, and Belonging in Contemporary America

The Long Way Home is an ongoing documentary photography project exploring the connections between people, place, and belonging in contemporary America. Primarily using a traditional 4×5 large-format film camera, photographer Eric Dusenbery travels through small towns, rural communities and overlooked corners of the American landscape, creating portraits of individuals whose lives reflect the character, memory, and continuity of the places they call home.

The project focuses on people who sustain the social and cultural fabric of their communities through work, creativity, stewardship, and long-standing commitments to place. Subjects include artists, ranchers, historians, small business owners, farmers, and others whose stories often exist beyond the attention of mainstream media. Accompanied by recorded conversations and personal narratives, the photographs explore how individuals shape—and are shaped by—the communities in which they live.

At a time of rapid social, economic, and technological change, The Long Way Home asks enduring questions about identity, memory, and attachment to place. What creates a sense of belonging? How do communities maintain continuity across generations? And what can we learn from those who remain deeply rooted in the landscapes, traditions, and relationships that give meaning to everyday life? Through portraiture and storytelling, the project seeks to create a contemporary record of the people and places that continue to sustain American community life.

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