Remembering America - Jeff Dunas on Life and the Blues

In partnership with the Amerikahaus in Munich, Germany, Over Here, Over There's Claudia Koestler explores the profound insights of renowned photographer Jeff Dunas, in his latest exhibition, capturing the essence of smalltown America and blues legends. Discover how his long-term projects reveal cultural identity, the power of photography, and the enduring legacy of blues music.

At times when politics so often drives a wedge between people — and especially across the transatlantic relationship — Dunas's insight and artistry offer something rare: a look at the America we all carry in our hearts.

Dunas's work looks past ideology. His lens turns instead toward the human side of America: through it, the diners, dusty roads, and soulful portraits of Blues legends become not symbols of division but echoes of home, no matter which side of the Atlantic we stand on. His images remind us that beyond politics and noise, there’s still a universal language in the light, faces, and rhythms of everyday life — the America of the heart, not headlines.

📍 Visiting Munich?
See Jeff Dunas’ exhibition “Smalltown America” and “Blues Legends” at Amerikahaus through July 31, 2026.

More at
AMERIKAHAUS.DE

For more information on Jeff Dunas's work, please see https://www.dunas.com/.

A special thanks to the Amerikahaus Munich, which provides thought-provoking and engaging events throughout the year.

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Transcript

Claudia Koestler (00:01.55)

Hey, welcome back to Over Here, Over There, the podcast across borders, where we peer across the Atlantic to see how our cultures rhyme, echo, sometimes clash, but ultimately what that says about who we are and what we can learn from each other. I'm Claudia, and today I am at the Amerika Haus in Munich, Germany. And today we have a very special guest in our program, Jeff Dunas. He is an American photographer whose work dives deep into the soul of small-town America, where time seems to pause. And also, we'll be diving into the heart of its music, the blues. I'll be talking with Jeff not just about his images, but about what they tell us about identity, about place, about the universality of the human being. So come on, join me.

Claudia Koestler (01:11.264)

What an honour it is to meet you, Jeff Dunas. Thank you very much for being on our program over here, over there. Thank you very much. How do you find Munich?

Jeff Dunas (01:21.294)

Always loved Munich. Munich is a wonderful place. I like Bavaria. So, I'm always happy to have a reason to come.

Claudia Koestler (01:28.184)

You've been here many times.

Jeff Dunas (01:29.664)

Worked here a lot in the past and had friends here, so I've been in and out of Munich. But it's been a while, so it was a nice thing to pop in. Literally pop in, I'm only here eight days, but I've done a lot in eight days.

Claudia Koestler (01:44.59)

How did it start? Did you ever encounter like a pivotal moment or a pivotal town or a special person where you thought to yourself, this is the story I want to tell, this is small town America?

Jeff Dunas (01:58.744)

First, I should say there are two shows here. So, you have this, which is my work called American Pictures, and then in an upstairs gallery is a different show, which is called State of the Blues, which is portraits of blues musicians. So, both of those ideas came about in much the same way. I self-assigned myself. All the work I've done in my life has all been long-form projects that I continue on for many, many years. And so I always work on three or four different projects, and in their own time, they come to fruition.

So, in this particular case, for example, in the black and white work in this American picture series came about because it was 1994, and I saw that the turn of the century was coming. This black and white work you're seeing was number one to bring an archive into the next century. And secondly, it was the motivation. I shouldn't say the motivation, but what happens is that each one of these photographs that I made was because seeing that place or that person struck a memory of my childhood. And so you're looking at pictures of my childhood that I found again somewhere else because that doesn't look like that anymore. Where I grew up in Los Angeles, but when I grew up as a kid, this is what it looked like. And this is what America looked like and felt like to me. It was comfortable, and I liked it, you know, as a vibe. It's what I saw in my family albums, pictures of my ancestors, or Look and Life magazine at the time, you know, and so that's kind of television and film. This is kind of how my world looked. So, I went out looking for things that reminded me of specific instances in my childhood. And each one of these is one of those pictures. I always knew if I saw something that I brought forth in memory, that I knew there was a picture there. So that's how this black and white work came. And then that book was published. And then the colour component was a completely different thing. This was after living 24 years in Europe, pretty much.

I came back to the United States, and I began to realize that I had a certain affection for my country folk in the sense that I began to appreciate the way they felt free to express themselves in ways that I'd never seen in Europe or Japan or South America or Australia. And the vibe was they're very individual. They express themselves in their own unique ways, including their environment.

Jeff Dunas (04:24.768)

And they're not too worried about what the neighbours think or what happens or what the townsfolk might think. It's my place. This is how I dress. This is who I am. And I really began to appreciate that in them. So, I started the same process, driving through the country on various different, for various different reasons. Sometimes I was on my way to my in-laws' house in Canada, or I was driving to see cousins or people in Colorado, but I would always spend the first two weeks photographing, and then, whatever the reason was for the visit, and get back. So that's how it worked out. And these photographs in colour are really that. These are the things that I came upon that really reinforced the affection that I had for Americans. And I should say, this is a completely apolitical process. I have no political axe to grind. I try not to send any message other than look at these people, look at us. This is who we really are in our daily lives.

I hope that other people, just as we are, will appreciate that. I can't imagine in a German suburb, somebody suddenly decorating the tree in front of his house for Christmas and then parking his truck there and covering it with Christmas lights. But in America, that wouldn't be uncommon. You'd see that, you're very nice. You know, I think people here have more of a, they're more circumspect as far as how they, their outward presence. And I respect that too. I think there's a...

Claudia Koestler (05:40.097)

Right, right.

Jeff Dunas (05:51.15)

There's a positive there. But Americans are, you know, it's their iconoclast. They are like, this is me and here I am.

Claudia Koestler (05:58.83)

Does it have anything to do with space?

Jeff Dunas (06:02.294)

I hadn't thought of that. not sure. I mean, because it's in their appearance and it's the way that they dress it. It's the way that the cars they choose to drive, what they wear, and then their environments. You know, I found that it was a good way to represent the unique qualities that the American people have outside of all this political theatre and the nonsense that's happening. And so I hope that when people come to see this work, they can kind of smile and appreciate from person to person, people to people. We're humans, and this is a cool thing. And of course, I approach it with a very rigorous perspective, but nonetheless, it adds up. And that's why the process takes me a long time.

Claudia Koestler (06:42.322)

You've mentioned that you've been in Europe for a long time, you've lived in France, and you've been everywhere in the world. Do you see similarities wherever you go when it comes to people or to behaviour or to childhood memories or anything that you've captured? Is there something similar you see everywhere, or do you focus on the unique and untranslatable details?

Jeff Dunas (07:04.782)

Well, obviously, this is an American picture. I have a whole book of street pictures that's almost all done in Europe, so it's a different vibe. But I also came to realize that the feelings that I get from people wherever I am, be that Europe or elsewhere, are a reflection of, I guess, whatever I'm putting out there. And so, since it's me and I'm me the same way all the places, I seem to be able to gather a warm kind of interaction with people.

I'm not shy. I walk right up to them and start photographing them, and people smiling at me, and they participate, and I get them involved in my process, and you know, that's just how I work. So, I guess as I think about it, it's just, it must be a reflection of whatever it is that I'm giving out. You know, it's whatever I decide, that's kind of, I guess, what comes back. And I hadn't ever thought about that, but I would say that if that's the case, I feel people react to me in similar ways wherever I go, you know.

I tell people in photography that if you're not an extrovert, you should consider still life and landscape.

Claudia Koestler (08:10.958)

Well put!

Jeff Dunas (08:13.92)

It really, it just helps if you are someone really fluid with people, then this is a good career. This is the way I do it. If not, there are other ways to stay in photography and have a great, passionate life, but this is my way.

Claudia Koestler (08:27.576)

How do you approach people that you actually photograph?

Jeff Dunas (08:31.342)

The work that I do is focused on a very intense short period. That's my interaction with you. When I have a camera in my hand, and I'm going to make a picture of you, I have a way of like giving this minute that we have together a very intense, fun interaction that's very fluid, and before you know it, I'm done, and it's over, and I have the picture. And that has served me all my life, really. I know...

Some photographers take endless amounts of time setting everything up, checking lighting and checking. My work is always about funneling my interaction with my subject into a very short, intense, brief period. I'm photographing you, I'm completely in love with you for 48 seconds, and I have my picture. And that transmits, that really works. If I make you feel wonderful and beautiful, I get something in my picture that is what I'm after, you know, if it's stifled or if in any way it's kind of stiff, then someone's ill at ease or they suddenly flip back to their real world and they're thinking of other things and you don't have that chance. I really found that if I have five hours with a subject or five minutes, I can make the picture in five minutes. The best picture, I can beat it to death, but I don't think I get a better picture by doing that. And so, there's that.

And it's like, let the force be with me. You know, I came to realize that if I just flow, I'm able to do this. And so, I've learned to let it happen like that. And there are times I don't get it, of course. But, that I'm disappointed or that I wasn't able to quite get it to the intensity that I was hoping for. You know, it'll be a good effort, but I won't have made just exactly what I wanted. And that's the way that it is, but it's worth trying for. I tell people that I stop time. That's what I do and what my job is. I'm a time traveller.

Claudia Koestler(10:21.986)

But are you also a time traveller? Do you revisit places, photos, and people that you've taken pictures of?

Jeff Dunas (10:30.094)

That has been known to happen. Yeah. I have about six different series that have been repeating for quite a long time, quite many numbers of years. One is with my daughter. And yeah, there are things like that that I've pursued over a long number of years, but that's not my main purpose is time travel. I like to see time. Mostly, I like to freeze it.

Claudia Koestler(10:52.398)

Still looking ahead a little bit, know that you're not the time traveller, but looking ahead, you think that the changes that are approaching are coming too fast?

Jeff Dunas (11:03.886)

Only time will tell. I mean, that's a strange response. It's an honest response. Only time will tell. I never thought about it. Again, I think it's the experience of people reflecting whatever I'm putting out there. So, what I'm looking for. And it's always very specific. So, I don't know that it will change. What I'm photographing changes, of course. And I think that's good. I like to keep trying to...find new ways to apply the way I approach photography to what I'm doing.

Claudia Koestler (11:34.591)

Do you recognize the differences in how the audience reads your pictures? Like, do Americans read them differently than Europeans?

Jeff Dunas (11:43.118)

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, just today I was walking a lady through here from Western and Eastern Pennsylvania, and this was her childhood, too. So, in a way, I really hit home with her because she could say, oh, I had a friend with a thing like that, and this is, you know, I had a trampoline like that when I was a kid, and all these kinds of things that are very specific to our people in my country. It is, I think, that people can relate to it.

Not that this is how their childhood looked, but it does look like it is a place in a different time that maybe they've seen in movies, films, and magazines, too. So, there's a shared experience that they can tap into or tap into it automatically, maybe. I don't think they recognize what my influences may have been or what the purpose was, but that's not my problem. I want them to enjoy what they're looking at and really look deeply at the detail that I've preserved in that work.

Claudia Koestler (12:37.944)

What were the responses from European people who have already seen your pictures?

Jeff Dunas (12:43.5)

They studied them, they stopped and stared into them for quite a while, each one. And I think when you put your work on exhibition, you could have a lot of hope, but the people will relate to the pictures. And then sometimes I watch people just keep walking by and checking them out, and they're looking at content only, and they're not really looking at the expression or what I'm trying to say. And that's fine too. I'm glad they're looking. It's important to look and see, and you have your own response. But when they really start to look at each picture and appreciate the more that is revealed to them in the pictures. And that's what I really am happy about when I see it happen. Because I love these details. It's all in the patina of the house, the wood, the stuff that's there. You could walk through some of these pictures, and I could show you. But hopefully it's like an onion, and you can continue to delve into it and see more and more in it. That's the sign of a picture that's reaching into people. And that's what I strive for.

Claudia Koestler (13:43.81)

Thank you very much. That has been very insightful, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your pictures.

Jeff Dunas (13:49.506)

Yes, come with me.

Claudia Koestler (13:54.158)

Jeff Dunas, thank you for coming back again. We are here with your second exhibition at the Amerikahaus in Munich, Germany. This is the ‘State of the Blues. Photos of Legends’.

Jeff Dunas (14:08.376)

The day that Muddy Waters died, who was a very important legendary Chicago blues man, singer, player, very influential, I realized I better start shooting these people, because this was the music that I loved as a child, as a kid. And I listened to music under my pillow in a transistor radio when I was supposed to be asleep. And that's condensing the story, but you know, I really, I love this music. And then all the world of rock and roll opened up.

As one of these bluesmen said to me, the blues had a baby, and they called it rock and roll. But it was the architecture for rock and roll. So Muddy Waters died, and I thought this was not going to last forever. I should find these people. And I tried to get some magazine assignments to do the pictures, and they all said, " Blues, it's kind of not our thing. It's in the past. So as always, I made a self-assignment, and I made my own decision to do it, and I found the way in, and I started to work on it, and it took five years of nonstop working to get everybody. I was very happy that I got this much of the blues world before it was over. It was started two years after that book was published, I think, and half of them had already passed away.

Claudia Koestler (15:25.25)

When you look at those pictures and those faces, those eyes now, what do you see? Is it an echo from the past? Does something linger on? Can you take something away? Did you learn something?

Jeff Dunas (15:40.96)

In the best of cases, I feel a sense of pride that I captured something of importance in them if this was going to go into the future without them. Their dignity, their confidence in themselves, and the history of where their whole parkour, know, where they came from. You know, most of these people started out in very, very difficult circumstances. Being African American in the American South in the 30s and 40s wasn't a fun thing to do. And yet they distinguished themselves; they had an influence on the music of the whole world culture through rock and roll, really. And they couldn't have known that, but my job was to capture that with integrity and hopefully something that they'd be proud of existing beyond their years, and I hope I have. That's kind of what I think, because they were kind enough to give me that short interaction. I feel like I did them justice, and I hope that's true.

Claudia Koestler (16:43.815)

Do you hope that young people today will be inspired?

Jeff Dunas (16:48.342)

I hope so. I hope they can recognize, I mean, I don't even know what rock and roll has become, even if it still exists. I don't listen to contemporary music. It's diverged so much from what I was in love with as a kid, a young person. I just hope that they could realize that, actually, the whole music scene, as we know it today, was built upon their shoulders. I can't comment on what it's like today, but I can say that I hope they recognize that these are the founders here. This is where it came from.

Claudia Koestler (17:20.318)

And therefore, still relevant and even more relevant maybe today than a decade ago or two decades ago.

Jeff Dunas (17:26.872)

Well, I can put it this way. What if the German public that goes to the opera were given a chance to actually hear Mozart play? Can you imagine that? I mean, you've only ever heard an interpretation in your whole life. This is available. You can listen to these recordings. And these are the people playing the music that changes the world. So that's a fascinating, unusual situation. And also, I have to say, being that I'm in the Amerikahaus, and so the context here is that this is the only true American music. In Europe, you have German music and amazing French music and things that have been around for hundreds of years, English, all kinds of Celtic music, and such. But this is the only true American music. It didn't come from anywhere else. It came from here, in America. And I find that that's also important to remember as you listen to this music. It came from a time of oppression and difficulty. And you can see that in their faces in my work. That's my goal is to show their history, who they became, and where they came from. And I'm not proud of the way the white folks treated them at the time, but they persevered and became the heroes. And that's pretty incredible. I have a story about every picture here, but John Lee Hooker went down to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to do a music tour with Coco Taylor and Buddy Guy.

They all went out and drinking and having some sweet potato pie, and they went to the favourite Duke joint to listen to some music and stuff. John Lee stayed in his hotel room, and when the next morning, when they had breakfast, said, John Lee, why didn't we see you last night? Why didn't you come with us? And he said, they ain't gonna get all John Lee down here. And I mean, that's right out of his past, right out of a very oppressive time, south of what we call the Mason-Dixon line. And that made a big impact. They all went to Chicago looking for the freedom to live their life without that kind of prejudice. They electrified the blues music at that point, and that's where rock and roll came from. So, it's a pretty incredible story. And that was just indicative of that mindset.

Claudia Koestler (19:33.934)

To me, they are so deeply human. And this is a wonderful bridge, actually, to see those originators of blues music, of true American music, over here in Germany. So thank you very much for introducing you and your wonderful art here to the America House, our audience, and viewers. And we hope to catch you very soon again.

Jeff Dunas (19:59.31)

I hope so. Thank you, Claudia. Thanks very much. I enjoyed this. Thank you.

Claudia Koestler (20:02.85)

Thank you.