Hi y'all, Stephen, here. I just want to talk a little bit about this first book, The Great Texas Road Story: Volume 1. Because, firstly, I'm proud of it.

In developing this project I've visited over 100 counties and more than 300 small Texas towns. To put all of this work into a single book would be difficult and would lack any unifying theme so I decided to break it up visually.

This first book includes aesthetically cohesive images from 7 towns. These images share a certain look because Texas weather is unpredictable and I've found myself a lot of times waking up in the rain and then exploring and shooting. I never let a little rain get in my way. I definitely embrace what I see at the time and take photos if it requires it. My tactic has always been to get out of town on a Friday after work, find a state park to camp for the night and then explore over the weekend. No GPS, just driving, following my gut. So it's not always sunny blue skies, sometimes Texas is gray and wet but the brick roads and that red dirt really pops.

48 pages of small town Texas. All photos taken between 2020 and 2024 by Stephen Alan Hood.