Portfolio: Rob Hann

'Deserted States of America'

Landscape and portrait photographer Hann, 54, is a UK-born, New York-based artist whose highly regarded celebrity portraits have earned a permanent place in London's National Portrait Gallery. Excerpts from his "Deserted States of America" series are showcased here.

"I started taking road trips out in the American west while I was still living in London doing portraits back in 2001. I fell in love with being out in the desert, taking pictures of whatever caught my eye," he says of the series. "I like how desert spaces are such a contrast to growing up in the damp green of England, and I had fallen in love with the romance of the road trip; I was really into Jack Kerouac growing up. Now I rent a car and drive thousand of miles.

"The picture shown above was taken on Interstate 10, a massive highway that goes all the way from California on the west coast to Florida on the east. At one stage through the Mojave desert section, I saw this sign. It made me laugh so much that I had to stop and take a picture."