In the 1970s, the Danish author Jacob Holdt achieved national fame for his book, American Pictures. This marked the start of a period of more than 40 years, during which Jacob Holdt travelled the length and breadth of the United States with his camera, documenting the people he encountered en route. Over the years, this resulted in a huge number of photographs, which document dramatic stories about the shadowy aspects of the United States. Theme-wise, Holdt’s photographs tackle topics such as racism, discrimination and prejudice between the social poles of the American people. So, in his photographs we encounter all manner of people: everything from multi-billionaires, mass murderers and impoverished blacks to urbanites in seedy ghettos, drug addicts on the streets and Ku Klux Klan leaders. In Holdt’s photographs, while we encounter the social reality of the United States in its most undiluted form and the underbelly of the American Dream, we also confront our own prejudices and fears. What makes Jacob Holdt’s method so special is the fact that not only did he portray the people he encountered during his travels, for various periods of time he also lived among them. Consequently, with Holdt’s intimate relationship as their basis, the photographs give us access to a number of deeply personal narratives. Holdt himself claims that in his gritty depictions of life in adversity there is also a glimmer of hope.