This two-volume set brings together Matt Black’s vivid portrait of an unknown America and its companion volume, presenting a deeper view of his six-year odyssey documenting poverty in the United States.

American Geography is a visual record of Black’s six-year, 100,000-mile journey across 46 states and Puerto Rico, visiting designated “poverty areas” with poverty rates above 20 percent. This compelling compilation of black-and-white photographs is accompanied by Black’s own travelogue of observations, overheard conversations, and snippets from daily life, chronicling the vulnerable conditions faced by America’s poor.

The companion volume presents photographs of objects, assemblages, and collages collected in these same “areas of concentrated poverty.” From plastic spoons and lottery tickets to family photographs and broken tools, these humble, discarded objects form a portrait of America assembled from its roadways and sidewalks.

Together, the two books present a powerful, unflinching critique of inequality in the United States and the reality of an America cut off from the “American Dream.”