Michael Ruggiero, Jr.
I was born in San Diego, California
in 1951 and have traveled extensively
in the USA, Europe, and the Far East.
My interest in photography began
in 1970 as a US Coast Guardsmen while stationed on the island of Guam in the south pacific aboard a buoy tender
that sailed into the ports of Japan, Micronesia and the Far East.
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I received a AA degree in photography in 1978 from Grossmont College in San Diego and began my lifelong fascination with the medium that produced such artists as: Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau and Gary Winogrand.
Since then I have traveled extensively in the USA and Europe focusing my lens on self-assignments such as Pennsylvanian slate quarrymen, cross-country truck drivers, Long Island fishermen and just plain everyday street life. I now live on Long Island, New York with my wife, son, mother-in-law, two dogs, one cat and several fish.
OVER THE ROAD: The Highway Men 1989 – 2009
Everyday and in the hours of darkness, hundreds of thousands of long-haul truck drivers make their way across this great land and into our major cities stopping only to refuel, eat, and rest.
The long-haul truckers, as they are sometimes known, are the link between consumers and manufacturers and deliver a wide variety of products that we rely on all the time. There are a variety of working conditions that truckers will go through on their cross-country routes, such as weather, traffic conditions, boredom, fatigue and often long periods of time away from home.
Before the deregulating of the trucking industry in 1980, independent truckers were able to go over-the-road making good wages, explore the country, and be their own boss. Now, with unionized drivers and larger trucking companies, it is unlikely we will see the likes of these unconventional free spirited cowboys in the near future. A large percentage of the aging drivers are retiring and many may not see their 60’s due to excessive smoking, lack of exercise, unhealthy eating habits and work related injures. Advances in technology and mega travel centers have also contributed to the decline of the romanticized trucker along with the smaller intimate truck stops that used to line the interstate highways.
This project began by driving a camper bus with my father across the USA from San Diego to Long Island. It has been a project with the concept of putting together a photo essay of this particular, evaporating breed of asphalt cowboy and the highway waterholes they frequent.
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