Jason Lee: TX | CA 19
The serene images of a fading American landscape showcased in Jason Lee’s latest book, TX | CA 19, were captured during a journey from his adopted home state of Texas to California in June and July of 2019. This would mark his final photography trip before moving back to his native Southern California that September.
“Many of these color photos were taken along and around Highways 287 and 40/66, from Decatur, TX, all the way to California—a route I’ve traveled countless times and grown deeply attached to. I’ve made it a habit to revisit certain spots to capture new images, building a collection of time-lapse exposures of familiar sights for both my curiosity and enjoyment—a process that continues to this day. As a result, you’ll see several familiar locations featured again in this companion to TX | CA 17.
“This time in California, though, I didn’t shoot any color film in the desert east of Los Angeles between Highways 40 and 10, where I had previously photographed some of the images in the California section of 17. Instead, the California shots in this book were taken while traveling north on Highways 14/395 and 6, after leaving L.A. for the return trip home—a route I don’t take nearly as often and didn’t follow two years earlier. It’s a stunning part of the country, and coincidentally, it was in that general area where I first began photographing the American landscape in 2006.
About the Author
Born 1970, Orange, California. Jason Lee, a Southern California native, is a photographer, director, and actor. He first rose to prominence as a professional skateboarder during the transformative era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. After his successful skateboarding career, Lee transitioned to acting, landing roles in films, television, and voiceover work, collaborating with renowned directors like Kevin Smith, Lawrence Kasdan, Cameron Crowe, and Rebecca Miller. In 2001, Lee developed a deep interest in photography and began pursuing it as a serious creative outlet. His photographic work has since been showcased in numerous group and solo exhibitions, as well as featured in magazines and books.
Lee’s debut publication, A PLAIN VIEW (2018), was released through Film Photographic, a photo book publishing company he founded in 2015. Before this, his first photography book was a special limited edition hardcover published by Refueled magazine in 2016, featuring a selection of American instant film photographs taken between 2006 and 2016. In June 2019, Lee’s first major museum exhibition, OK: Jason Lee Photographs, opened at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The show, which ran until December 2019, displayed 178 photographs of Oklahoma, filling the Meinig and Burnstein galleries at Philbrook Downtown (now Bob Dylan Center). Alongside Lee’s work, the adjacent Smith Gallery featured a selection of Larry Clark’s original Tulsa prints. A hardcover catalog of the OK exhibition is planned for future release.
In December 2020, Stanley/Barker, a UK publisher, released IN THE GOLD DUST RUSH, the first book to present a collection of Lee’s previously unpublished black-and-white American photographs from 2008 to 2020. Prior to the book’s release, in November 2020, Lee was invited by the Galveston Historical Foundation to photograph Galveston, Texas, for a special book commemorating the foundation’s 2021 sesquicentennial. The resulting work, Galveston (2021), is a 176-page hardcover featuring 98 color and black-and-white images. Following the book launch, Lee held a public signing at the Bishop’s Palace, a National Historic Landmark in Galveston’s East End Historic District.
In December 2023, Lee, alongside photographer Raymond Molinar, opened Eagle Rock Camera & Goods in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles. The charming shop offers a curated selection of new and vintage film cameras, film, accessories, and photo books. While photography remains his primary passion, Lee continues to act and co-manages Stereo Skateboards, a brand he co-founded, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022.
