On the Road is a glorious vintage diary of the midcentury road trip

Filmmaker Lee Shulman documents life on the roads of America and Europe from the 1940s to the 1970s in this beautifully curated book of colour slides.

Shulman and his Anonymous Project have collected more than 800,000 individual Kodachrome slides since 2017 as part of a mission to preserve these classic images. The slides only have a lifespan of around 50 years as the chemicals degrade and the colour fades away, so time is running out.

On the Road, as the name suggests, turns its lens on classic cars, pit stops, landscapes and family road trips of the midcentury. It’s a glorious nostalgic look at what driving used to be, authentically captured by those who were there at the time.

“When I look at the images in this book, I often see less of the mechanical ingenuity of the cars caught on camera, and more of the personalities of these imposing machines," Shulman says. "People had – and I suppose still have – a deep affection for these heavy lumps of metal, beautifully crafted into elegant symbols of status. It’s undeniable that the aesthetics of these cars from another time seem exotic today, and even a little unpractical, but they were made for the dreamers. They hinted at a hidden sense of adventure and elegance. They were their drivers' alter-egos."

"I am often amazed and profoundly touched by the incredible, intimate moments I discover in these little windows into our past," he adds. "Like a road movie, together they form a bigger picture: that of our shared collective memory."

On the Road is available to order now from Hoxton Mini Press.