Ruth Orkin. Bike Trip, USA, 1939

Ruth Orkin (1921-1985) was only 17 when she got on her bicycle and began a “bike trip” across the United States in 1939, from Los Angeles to New York. His crossing and his audacity, quite unusual for the time, aroused the curiosity of people and the local press, which devoted numerous reports to him.
On her return, she wrote a manuscript on her adventure which did not never been published so far. This experience influenced decisive in his life and career. Twelve years later, became a photographer professional, she made her most famous image “American Girl in Italy” (1951) which again returns to the experience of a woman who travels alone.
Consisting of photographs, scrapbook pages, excerpts from his diary of trip, maps and various documents, this book - that accompanies the exhibition of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson - returns to this extraordinary adventure of one of the great women photographers of the Twentieth century.