INTERVIEW: Will Clegg revisits ‘The Lonely Road’ in new FRIGID show
Photo: Will Clegg, storyteller and photographer, has a new show called The Lonely Road, featuring his photos from a 2003 trip across the United States. Photo courtesy of Will Clegg / Provided by Emily Owens PR with permission.
The 2022 edition of the FRIGID New York Festival is here, and Will Clegg is ready to travel many miles with the audience. His new storytelling show is called The Lonely Road and details his summer 2003 trip across the United States. As press notes indicate, he was heartbroken and unemployed at the time, living in a post-9/11 environment and trying to find his way. For the ambitious trip, he brought his camera and captured the United States with black-and-white photographs. Both the stories and the images from that journey are part of The Lonely Road, which plays select dates from Friday, Feb. 18 to Sunday, March 6 at the Kraine Theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Clegg is a two-time winner of Moth StorySLAMs in New York City and regular performer at The Nights of Our Lives at the Magnet Theater, according to his official biography. He describes himself as a storyteller, filmmaker, photographer and sourdough enthusiast. His new show is directed by David Crabb.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Clegg about his journey along The Lonely Road. Questions and answers have been slightly modified for style.
What inspired you to take this cross-America road trip?
I was inspired by a photograph. One of my photography heroes, Garry Winogrand, had taken a trip across the country in 1964 with a Guggenheim grant and made beautiful, engaging pictures in many places I had never visited like Dallas, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. But one photo of White Sands National Monument in New Mexico had really stuck in my mind. A classic car, a young family making a picnic on the pristine white dunes and the perfect cobalt blue sky — I had to see that place for myself, so I modeled my trip after his and planned to take thousands of photos along the way. I was also in a period of personal turmoil, and rather than deal with the difficulties directly, it was really appealing to just go out on an adventure and figure it out later.
What were your expectations before taking the trip, and did the trip meet those expectations?
I was hoping to see parts of the country I had never seen before and take as many photos as possible, returning energized and ready to start my new career as a photographer. I visited plenty of new places and took more than 1,500 pictures, but the loneliness of the trip really took its toll on me and forced me to reckon with the demons that I had been suppressing — the very things from which I had been running away.
Why do you take photos? Memories? Documentation? Art?
Some wise person once said that every photograph is a self-portrait. I believe that — that every photo I take is not “capturing the moment,” but rather a window to how I see the world. Every photo reveals a piece of me: why I chose that moment, why I’m standing where I am, what’s present and in focus in the frame, and also what’s not in the picture.
What do you think the audience can learn from this story?
I think the audience can learn that grief is a long and arduous process that looks different for everybody. They might also see that the greatest journeys don’t always end up where you thought they would, and that’s maybe the best part.
Was it difficult remembering the details 20 years after the trip, or did the photos remind you?
These are stories that I have been telling myself and others for 20 years in different forms. The most interesting things usually happened when I wasn’t snapping photos, but the pictures help to remind me of what I was feeling before and after those moments.
Where do you get your love for sourdough?
I actually got interested in sourdough long before the pandemic, on a trip to Alaska with my in-laws. I bought a small packet of sourdough starter on a whim in a tourist trap, brought it back to New Jersey and gave it a shot. My first loaves were basically frisbees, but I bought a few books, followed some sourdough Instagram accounts and started learning. It’s not unlike traditional chemistry-based photography in that the dough (film) takes time to develop, and you don’t really know how each loaf (photo) is going to turn out. But there is a scientific mastery that you can achieve to improve quality and get consistent results. I love hobbies that blend math and art, and while sourdough bread is obviously delicious, the greatest satisfaction I get is when a beautiful, golden loaf comes out of the oven just according to my calculations.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Lonely Road, written and performed by Will Clegg, will play select dates Friday, Feb. 18 to Sunday, March 6 at the Kraine Theater on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The show is part of the FRIGID New York Festival. Click here for more information and tickets.
