“RV FIRE, NEVADA 2019”: This photo by Lindsay Godin is one of the pieces in “The Road,” a photography exhibit running through March 27 at the MCCC James Kerney Campus Gallery in Trenton. The public is invited to a reception and talk on March 12 from 5-7 p.m.

In its first in a series of guest curated shows, Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) James Kerney Campus (JKC) Gallery presents a new photography exhibition by Float Photo magazine founders Dana Stirling and Yoav Friedlander entitled “The Road.”

The show runs through March 27 and features photographic images of iconic Americana. The public is invited to a reception with curators, Stirling, and Friedlander on Thursday, March 12 from 5-7 p.m. with a talk at 6 p.m. at the JKC Gallery, Trenton Hall, 137 North Broad Street in Trenton.

The American road is a theme that winds through some of the most well-known works of American photographers such as Stephen Shore, Ed Ruscha, Alec Soth, and many others from the United States and abroad. Photographers have traveled through vast landscapes to document this country and all that surrounds the road: the vistas, the gas stations, the motels, the neon signs, the diners, and the people that depict America’s culture.

“‘The Road’ is the first in a series of guest-curated shows at the JKC Gallery,” said Michael Chovan-Dalton, gallery director. “The show represents the largest number of artists ever presented at the JKC Gallery. By utilizing a monitor, the curators were able to represent approximately 150 artists who masterfully document America’s social and geographical landscapes through the lens of a camera.”

Curators Stirling and Friedlander, who grew up in a small town in the Israeli desert, described the inspiration behind the exhibit and their affection for American culture.

“We absorbed American culture through movies, TV shows, and pop culture,” explained the curators. “We were raised an ocean away from the American landscape — thousands of miles away from the nearest stretch of American highway  — yet our perception of this country was shaped by these depictions that are curated into this show today. The great American road trip represented freedom, the occasional unknown … the great variety of landscapes — from a thick forest to an empty desert.”

After moving to New York several years ago, Stirling and Friedlander began living the American visual for themselves. “We suddenly found ourselves not as outside spectators, but as participants of the visual bank that is being created every second of every day by artists all across the nation,” they said.

Together, Stirling and Friedlander founded Float Photo magazine (floatmagazine.us) in 2014 with the goal to share and celebrate the photographic work of a versatile roster of contemporary photographers from around the world.

The JKC Gallery is open Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or by appointment at jkcgallery@mccc.edu. For more information, visit www.mccc.edu/jkcgallery.