What characteristics define a contemporary American? Amid an increasingly polarized political and cultural landscape, photographer Richard Sharum traveled across America’s “spine” to suss out the common threads and seemingly insurmountable disparities of a fractured nation.

For three years, Sharum traversed a lengthy stretch between the Canadian and Mexican borders. From North Dakota to Kansas to Texas, he documented the lives of more than 4,000 people in 14,000-plus images, creating a snapshot of a region that’s historically been overlooked. “I knew that in order for me to find out what America is, I needed to travel its central corridor and see it for myself,” he said.

In his new book, Spina Americana, a portrait of a nation emerges in bold black and white. On frozen water in Hemand, North Dakota, a fisherman shows off his recently speared Nothern Pike. In O’Neill, Nebraska, an older woman cradles a bowling ball in front of wood paneling, and two teenagers steel away from baseball practice in Tolar, Texas, to pose for Sharum.

Delineated by location and an area often described as “flyover country,” the photos focus largely on the working class. Manual labor is prominent throughout the series, which features migrant workers picking oregano, a firefighter, and a cotton candy vendor. Whereas the working class in this region is often omitted from or patronized within pop culture and political conversations, Sharum portrays each person with reverence and a desire to emphasize a shared humanity. The lack of color similarly draws attention to the material conditions and expressions of the subjects. He adds:

This term, flyover country, was one I’d heard my entire life but had never really thought about when it came to the condescension it implied. I felt that this part of our country had been ignored politically, socially, and culturally for decades, with its obscurity creating a subtle but consequential vacuum that had implicitly added fuel to our national divisions.

Raised in Corpus Christi, Sharum is now based in Corning, New York. Spina Americana is published by GOST Books and available on Bookshop. Find more of his work on his website. (via PetaPixel)