Meta • Travels with Jason Lee • Part I

Meta's volume sixteen contains an introduction to road trips spanning 10 years with Jason Lee. The same edition contains an amazing piece written by my cousin-in-law, Keith Saarloos of Saarloos and Sons Winery, about a 10-day trip with freestyle motorcycle legend Carey Hart.

Travel stories sometimes involve finding uniqueness in the quiet and understated, and other times selecting what to write from an abundance of activity and detail. These road trips spanned the gamut from driving the desert in an '84 Mercedes and '94 Lincoln, to riding Baja on KTMs, to participating in the L.A. - Barstow to Vegas event on a BMW R1200GS Adventure and 1971 Triumph TR6C.

Analog cameras spanning many decades, and using several different types of film were along for all these trips.

Instagram: @meta @jasonlee @saarloosandsons @hartluck @filmphotographic @dr5

Story: https://www.readmeta.com/blog/2019/11/27/travels-with-jason-lee

Jason and I in Denton, Texas with Eric Pulido of the band Midlake 

I'd just rolled in after a 1000-mile day on the bike, thus the riding gear...

Experimental film around the Salton Sea using a mix of digital and Super-8 cameras:

The Wayfarer's Memoirs from Jon Beck on Vimeo.

View this post on Instagram

Life’s narrative is composed mostly of gaps … and written in silence. Jason Lee is a legendary skateboarder who has translated his aesthetic into a series of photo essays spanning over 10 years. With an arsenal of older cameras, Jason has been steadily building a library of black-and-white slides, color films and Polaroids that are a record of what would otherwise be forgotten America. Read the story by @jonbeckadv published in Volume 016, now posted online in the Journal at readmeta.com. #readmeta #ALifeWellRidden

A post shared by META (@meta) on Dec 20, 2019 at 8:53am PST

View this post on Instagram

Life’s narrative is composed mostly of gaps … and written in silence. Jason Lee is a legendary skateboarder who has translated his aesthetic into a series of photo essays spanning over 10 years. With an arsenal of older cameras, Jason has been steadily building a library of black-and-white slides, color films and Polaroids that are a record of what would otherwise be forgotten America. Read the story by @jonbeckadv published in Volume 016, now posted online at readmeta.com. #readmeta #ALifeWellRidden

A post shared by META (@meta) on Nov 27, 2019 at 9:05am PST

Nebraska Cover Story

The December 2019 cover of Roadrunner magazine features an image taken in one of the many surprisingly unexpected places Nebraska hides in plain sight.

Having no directives other than to ride, photograph, and write about the state proved very rewarding. The relative emptiness of Nebraska turns the land into a blank canvas for the interesting stories contained in the prairie.

Thanks to Indian Motorcycle for providing the Roadmaster on this trek.

View this post on Instagram

The most interesting stories can result from the most unexpected projects. . Tasked with writing about a state who’s slogan reads “Honestly, it’s not for everyone.” presents certain challenges. Almost entirely lacking obvious postcard scenes or renown destinations, the traveler in Nebraska is drawn to look deeper at wherever they are. The stories which emerge make it hard to leave each town. . A visit to Nebraska is the quintessential road trip. What can be learned from the spaces between the highlights of a narrative is often the greater part. #indianmotorcycle . •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #nebraska #roadtrip #travel #explore

A post shared by Jon Beck (@jonbeckadv) on Jun 10, 2019 at 6:24am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Went from shooting a BMW project in Birmingham one day to picking up an Indian in Tulsa the following… . Got off the plane wearing both BMW and Indian gear, and the dealership which had the bike was co-branded accordingly… •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #5thgearycle #roadtrip #indianmotorcycle #roadmaster

A post shared by Jon Beck (@jonbeckadv) on Jun 4, 2019 at 5:51am PDT

View this post on Instagram

The tiny roadside motel didn’t have a pool… much better than that. #nebraska . Throwing darts at a map wouldn’t seem to be the best way to plan a trip, but it always seems to work… . •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #5thgearycle #indianmotorcycle #roadrunnermagazine

A post shared by Jon Beck (@jonbeckadv) on Jun 5, 2019 at 5:54am PDT