From March 1st to March 15th I documented the “Cosmic Caravan” as it traveled cross country from southern Maryland to the small Arizona desert mining town of Jerome. This caravan consisted of three one of a kind 1970’s fish bowl highway buses, an assortment of colorful food trucks pulled by cargo vans, and a cast of characters I will never forget. Some of these characters included original Last Poets member Dahveed Nelson and Mohammed “Makengo” Kamara of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. Justin Vitarello was the brains and visionary behind this operation as well the man who hired me to capture this incredible and wild journey. Justin founded the immensely popular and imaginative Fojol Brothers Food Trucks in Washington D.C. and then created a commune and retreat center on a beautiful property on the banks of the potomac river called Cataway Place. This trek was essentially Justin moving his business and his vision out of the DMV and into the wide open and beautiful landscape of Arizona.
During the trip there were many breakdowns of the vintage buses, countless times getting stranded on the side of a highway in the middle of nowhere, and even a mechanical malfunction which caused the entire group to be stuck in a Chuck E Cheese parking lot for 2 days until about 20 cops and the local sheriff were called to kick us out. Music was an essential part of this trip and I had to pinch myself as I photographed spontaneous concerts and jam sessions that would erupt on the bus as we barreled down the highways and strolled thru quiet country roads and main streets. We finally made it to Jerome, Arizona on March 14th which also happened to be my birthday. The following morning I flew home and it was a surreal moment to come straight off of one of the highest and liberating moments of my photographic career to a calendar of indefinite cancellations and utter uncertainty. I can’t think of a more drastic change in the world I left In DC on March 1 and the reality that I returned home to on March 15th, with the COVID pandemic in full swing. This trip was literally the last window of time before everything locked down and everyone’s lives would be dramatically altered.