William Keihn (b. 1983, Muncie, IN) is the son of a nurse and a steelworker. Through his prolific output of underground West coast out rock posters and record covers he developed his non-technical aesthetic. Trapdoor is the culmination of road trips photographing rural life from 2015 through 2017. This is his first book of photography.
From the Introduction by Mike Donovan:
“I came here for answers.” The hangover morning after Trump was elected, I posted that comment on William’s Instagram. Who knew anything about what just happened and why?
I scrolled the photos. Answers seemed to be right there but elusive. Just out of reach like the thing you can’t afford, handsomely advertised. Is there a river to cross? I wanted to understand. Is there a journey we can make to clarify this madness? A class divide with legs? Moonshine spike? Was the long history of the have and have-nots in this shoot ‘em up country suddenly cattywampus? I didn’t want to see the stats. I was pretty sure the smart phone was one of the big answers. But that one was very obvious. William, through his photos, might have the non-obvious answer–a harder one, a human one and one that required actual transformation…
