Lisa Krantz Photography

Mood of America

A nation divided. A country in the midst of a rupture that stands to strain the very fabric of our society. That's what pollsters and pundits said America had become in the weeks leading up to the 2004 election. During the election season I traveled to both urban and rural communities using a $15.00 Holga camera to capture a portrait of a diverse and evolving nation.

Maria Flores, from left, with her grandchildren, Ashley Greene, 8, and Lexus Greene, 10, watch the Puerto Rican Parade next to Francis Desmond, 83, in Philadelphia, PA. Desmond, a Navy WWII veteran, is going to vote for Kerry. "I have to. I cannot see what Bush is doing to our boys, having them killed over there... If it was a real war I could see them getting killed, but this way, no. Positively no."
   
William Matthews, 13, plays outside row houses in south Philadelphia, PA, on a Sunday afternoon. His mother worries more about his safety and the crime in their neighborhood, where a man was shot the night before, than who will be elected President.
  
Hay bales wait to be decorated for Halloween at the entrance to a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Troy, MO.
     
  
Rose Ann Howell and her sons, John, 7, from left, Seth, 4, and jacob, 12, promote peace and love outside a rally held by Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members at Valley Forge National Historical Park. King of Prussia, PA.
  
Amana Vida, 19, lays out hemp necklaces she made during the 6th annual 9-11 Power to the Peaceful Festival on September 11, 2004 in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. "I was think of voting for nobody," she says, but "I know I'm going to vote for Kerry. It's not like he's my ideal candidate though. I think it's important that Bush doesn't win."
  
Lucas Hice, 6, the son of a soldier serving in Iraq, plays with his Red Ryder BB gun outside his home in Paris, AR.
     
  
Cat Cassidy stands to watch a band perform at the Annual 9-11 Power to the Peaceful Festival on September 11, 2004 in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. "I guess anyone but Bush," Cassidy said when asked who she was planning to vote for.
  
John Alexander and his dog Princess wait to pick up feed at the Curlew General Store in Curlew, Wa before an afternoon hunting trip. "Kerry scares most of the people up here to death," Alexander said. Living ten miles from the Canadian border, homeland security is a major concern for Alexander and his neighbors. Curlew is in the most rural bellwether county, Ferry County. In 2000, Bush had a 31.7% margin of victory there.
   
     
  
James Hutchins climbs the steps of the Logan County Courthouse in Paris, Arkansas on a Monday afternoon.
   
Cheerleaders perform at a pep-rally for the upcoming football game at the University of California-Berkeley on a Friday afternoon. A block away, various liberal and conservative student organizations promote their causes and beliefs side by side.
  
Salsa Aspira dancers of Central High School wait to perform in front of the judges during the Puerto Rican Festival Parade in Philadelphia, PA.
     
  
Alfonso Ortega, 6, plays outside his home on the road connecting the oil town of Artesia and Carlsbad, NM. A bellwether county in previous elections, the community appeared to be leaning towards electing Bush again.
  
Lashay Warden, 11, left, and Janean Collazo, 8, with the Naylamp Street and Puppet Theater, wait to march in the Puerto Rican Festival Parade in Philadelphia, PA.
  
Robert Morland, from left, Carlos Dubose and Joesphine Ralph wait for customers to stop by their sidewalk sale outside Ralph's home in west Philadelphia.
     
  
A cat named Meow sits in the window of his home in Republc, WA, as his owner, a Vietnam Veteran, heads off to court for a misdemeanor charge. Residents of the small logging town say most people move there to live "of the grid."
  
Freshly picked apples from an orchard on the ranch of the Mayor of Carlsbad, NM. Friends of the mayor got together to pick the apples on a Tuesday afternoon.