Texas Textures, Volume Two Book

Vacant roadways, crumbling sanctuaries, and Main Streets long abandoned: The subjects of Texas Textures, Volume Two cling to a dissolving past, but the difference between ruin and relic is in the eye of the beholder. Photographer Kat Swansey’s eye, it seems, has remained on the highway – and peering through the viewfinder – since the first volume of Texas Textures was published in 2022. Her sophomore hardcover photo-book boasts over 300 new images, shot in a variety of rural and abandoned Texas locales, accompanied by fresh stories about her work, travels, family, and propensity for what she calls “occasional mischief.” 

Swansey’s photographs are portals to the past and meditations on the gradual, inevitable shaping of the future. Slices of Americana such as small-town storefronts, murals of rock ‘n’ roll icons, and humble homesteads stand as testaments to a bygone era, their disrepair a lonely and striking reminder of the passage of time and the brutality of the Texas elements. A highlight here, however, is Swansey’s embrace of personal rather than collective nostalgia, as this collection features an intimate tour around her very own hometown. The Texas Textures photo-book series depicts contemporary rural America as worthy of admiration and demanding of intrigue. It’s a perfect companion to fans of the New Topographics movement, Lone Star highway wanderers, and anyone curious where to find the Vaquero Capital of Texas…

Product Details
8x10 inch hardcover or softcover book
177 pages with 335 high-res color images
16 short stories
100lb satin paper

If you are interested in stocking my books in your shop or store, please email me at kat@katswansey.com.