While most know Academy Award winner Jessica Lange for her roles in “American Horror Story,” “Tootsie” and “King Kong,” the actress has another passion — photography.
On Oct. 14, Lange sat down with Emmy-winning journalist Kate Sullivan at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art to talk about her newest photography book, “Highway 61,” which was released by powerHouse Books Oct. 1.
Photos from the book — all of which are black and white — were displayed in a slideshow behind the pair throughout the interview.
Photo Courtesy of powerHouse Books
The event was presented by Chicago Ideas, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “be the world’s leading catalyst for inspiring, connecting, and empowering curious people in order to make the world a better place.”
The book features more than 80 photographs, all of which were taken by Lange at spots along the book’s namesake. From roadside diners to burning buildings, the black and white stills document Lange’s findings from the Northern tip of Wyoming, Minnesota to the Southern end of New Orleans.
Photo Courtesy of powerHouse Books
Lange said she stumbled into photography accidentally. She told Sullivan she originally attended the University of Minnesota to study art and that she wanted to be a painter. She couldn’t get into a class she wanted and ended up taking a photography course, where she developed an affinity for the craft.
Since then, Lange said whenever she’s not acting, she’s usually taking photographs. She collected stills taken on a Leica M6 over the course of eight years before deciding to turn them into a book dedicated to the famous highway.
“It’s not a political statement,” Lange said. “It’s not a social documentary. I hope it’s just a chronicle to what I saw.”
Photo Courtesy of powerHouse Books
Lange said she’ll often try to take photos of people without them noticing, but she recounted a time when she was riding her bike in New Orleans and happened upon a burning apartment building. She saw a resident of the apartment watching the building burn from outside and found herself unable to raise her camera as the woman’s apartment burned before her eyes.
Another time, in Arkansas, she saw a man sitting by his window and drove by a few times, trying to capture a photo without him noticing. The third time she passed his house, he motioned for her to come over. When she asked if she could take his picture, he obliged.
“Photography allows you to have this human exchange you wouldn’t normally have,” Lange said. “The connection when you’re looking at someone and they’re looking at you is so profound.”
Photo Courtesy of powerHouse Books
Lange cited photographers Josef Koudelka and Henri Cartier-Bresson as her main inspirations for the craft. Much like Lange, the French artists are also known for their black-and-white street photography.
In the interview, Lange revealed the “Sam” to which the book is dedicated is Sam Shepard, Lange’s ex-partner who passed away in 2017 due to complications from ALS.
“Sam loved the highway,” she said. “We spent a lot of summers and holidays driving on that road.”
“Highway 61” is available for purchase in bookstores and online.