Hell may have its rings but Louisville's got the Watterson Expressway. There, amid the crumbling concrete and potholed asphalt the city manifests its neuroses at high velocity. Grim and neglected, its grey sprawl feels like a reflection of the zeitgeist of the nation.
Have always wanted to capture some of that but inevitably I'm driving when I think of it. Took advantage of riding shotgun on our way out of town for New Year's to snap a few shots of the Watterson for the first time.
It was overcast and grey, spitting rain every other mile, perfect for capturing the essence of our expressway named for a former Confederate and journalist. The posted speed limit is 55mph but nobody ever does that, it's either much slower or approaching the speed of light. On one occasion, I saw a car doing 90+ spin out, sideswipe the concrete barrier in the median and then keep going. Another time a car I was following decided to stop in the middle of the highway without warning because a piece of styrofoam had blown out of the bed of a truck and landed in front of them.
Shot these with my 24-70mm lens, which wasn't an ideal choice, the scale really calls for something longer. Calling this the test run. There was plenty of holiday traffic but it's not until rush hour on a workday that you get the peak Watterson experience. Still, it doesn't matter what time to day you're on the highway, it's always an experience.
Going to have to shoot up Watterson some more, these shots were fun but I'm still feeling out how to shoot it up properly. Until then, play a highway song and drop me a photo of what the highway to hell looks like in your neck of the woods.
