The Color of Money and Trees
"The Dutch photographer’s shot of a nine-year-old girl from a motorhome site in Arizona is part of a series that calls into question the appetite for material wealth." - The Guardian, 15 Dec 2024
Tony Dočekal’s series The Color of Money and Trees explores the pursuit of success and the value of the American Dream. Reflecting on freedom, community, and purpose, her work offers a personal perspective shaped by encounters on the road.
“For six years, I returned to the American West, a region mythologized for its freedom and opportunity, meeting people living on the edges of society, sometimes by necessity, sometimes by choice. In a landscape where success is often measured in wealth, I sought to capture something less tangible: resilience, identity, and the quiet moments that reveal our inner world.”
Blurring reality and fiction, The Color of Money and Trees became a portrait of those who carve out their own paths. Published by VOID, the book’s nonlinear sequence follows a fictional journey through highways, small towns, and motel rooms, with figures disappearing behind curtains or out of windows. Interwoven quotes hint at stories that extend beyond the frame of each portrait and location. These are individuals exist outside dominant narratives, challenging conventional truths. Their stories reflect not just lives lived beyond the margins, but the universal desire for meaning, connection, and self-determination.
Find out more about her work here.
