Road Ends in Water by Eliot Dudik

Issue 19

Change is descending upon an otherwise quiet, unhurried, unobtrusive, place. The main highway, U.S Route 17, that bisects South Carolina’s “low country”, north to south, is being widened to accommodate commerce, tourists, and urban refugees. Not only are many homes, some historic, disappearing before the tracked blades of expansion, but also the new, faster thoroughfare encourages greater disregard and obliviousness to the charm and culture the basin harbors.

This collection of images and thoughts is a tribute to, and an acknowledgment of, the respect the modest souls of this region, obscure from the mainstream, deserve for their tenacity, good humor, social commitment, and acceptance of the ebb and flow of the often incomprehensible vagaries of existence.

This photographic adventure became an artistic journey and culminated in a unique awakening to an otherwise overlooked cultural phenomenon. While the road ends in water, it began there as well.

Eliot Dudik lives and works in Columbia, SC. 
To view more of Eliot's work, please visit his website.
To purchase Eliot's book, Road Ends In Water, please visit photo-eye.

bud, russell creek road 

bud, russell creek road 

anthony, north edisto river 

anthony, north edisto river 

buddy baily, maybank highway 

buddy baily, maybank highway 

allen a.m.e. church, botany bay road 

allen a.m.e. church, botany bay road 

418, ivenia brown road 

418, ivenia brown road 

first snow in twenty years, rosa scott road 

first snow in twenty years, rosa scott road 

betty, oregon road 

betty, oregon road 

the word, ivenia brown road 

the word, ivenia brown road 

a.b.a.t.e. biker rally, red oak road 

a.b.a.t.e. biker rally, red oak road 

splash, state road s-15-161 

splash, state road s-15-161 

tom & tommy, prices bridge road 

tom & tommy, prices bridge road 

snuffy in salkehatchie swamp, broxton bridge road 

snuffy in salkehatchie swamp, broxton bridge road 

snuff’s house, broxton bridge road 

snuff’s house, broxton bridge road 

rob & ricky, near martins landing 

rob & ricky, near martins landing 

carew rice painting, back of old drive-in screen, highway 63 

carew rice painting, back of old drive-in screen, highway 63 

condemned, ashepoo river 

condemned, ashepoo river 

marietta & jim, wimbee creek road 

marietta & jim, wimbee creek road 

river life, north edisto 

river life, north edisto 

veterans & rookies, grain bin road 

veterans & rookies, grain bin road 

rouse, bennett’s point road 

rouse, bennett’s point road