Proceed To The Route: A Cinematic Photo Essay On Anxiety, Connectivity, And Isolation

For many of us who walk this earth, there is a collective feeling of uncertainty that comes with living in modern society. Technology is accelerating at unprecedented speed, and levels of anxiety are increasing with such force that The Independent has stated it “seem[s] like a sociological condition, a shared cultural experience.” Sharing her own experience of these feelings is Franco-Klein, whose vibrant series paints a story of female characters that are alone on the road. The images are intended to reflect her own sense of displacement, having lived life between Mexico City, California, and London—and thereby not having one specific home to feel grounded by. “I am lost. But my map seems to know where I am going. But am I lost? Is being lost even possible in this place that knows it all?,” reads Klein’s artist statement. The pressure to endure and persist is expressed through the line, “I want to stop. But she insists; Proceed to the route.” Glamorous images are cast against a text portraying the psychological strain of near constant connectivity: “I forget how to be lost. I live in that time where disappearing means putting an airplane sign on the screen. I insist. I want to walk the road without knowing. I want to get lost.”