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The distances traveled from East to West were vast - miles and miles, hours and hours of driving - but I photographed them as if they were my own neighborhood. In such a vast area, defined by labor and ideals, huge contradictions can still exist. These contradictions are so insidious and popular that eventually even the victims of these beliefs struggle to deny them. In America, inequality is seen as a personal fault rather than a problem radicalized in the system, and the idea of the American Dream is still accepted, despite ample evidence to the contrary. Perhaps most sadly, the feeling is that this idea is also accepted by those who are excluded from this same dream. Photography can play a role, particularly incisive in dismantling the legends: the land of opportunity, the American Dream, all these stories that most Americans try to tell themselves about their country.