Pickups a Love Story

August 19, 2013
Photographer Zehr tracked down pickup owners in his home state of Virginia to explore the unique relationships between individuals and their trucks. Many featured are vintage, including George and Kathy Duke's 1931 closed cab Ford Model A and John May's 1957 short bed Chevy. Other trucks appear ordinary, but contain fond memories. Lois Bowman's truck has a camper attached built by her late husband and a young couple recall taking their beat-up Toyota on long road trips and April Dawe and her father Tim spent two years building their bright green 1976 Ford F-250. Brandon Derrow owns a 13,000 pound purple monster truck called "Bad News Travels Fast." Some respondents use their trucks for work or farming, and others enjoy taking their trucks out hunting, usually accompanied by their dog. Two different owners allow anyone in the community access to the truck should the need arise. The book closes with an essay by Mark Metzler Sawin reflecting on the history of this "distinctly American machine" and its symbolism of "the trappings of the rural, rugged, independent life of America's earlier farming and frontier societies." Pickup enthusiasts will certainly relate to these stories and delight in Zehr's beautiful color photographs.