Strangers Along the Way

Jeff Slatnick first became associated with the shop as a customer and employee in the 1960s, then returned in the 1970s to become its owner. A tour of the shop reveals rooms filled with guitars hanging from the ceiling and a small stage in the basement for jams and unique instruments from around the world.

Artist and owner of Ooh Baby clothing boutique in New York City.

Carmen Ajan leans against a wooden fence in a stone-paved alley in Carmel, California.

Chris, in a fur-lined trapper hat, stands in a garage with a yellow school bus behind him.

Carrie, a computer programmer and radio station manager, hangs out at the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse in Menomonie, Wisconsin.

Isa prepares to serve food to guests while working at Güero’s Taco Bar in Austin, Texas. Güero’s Taco Bar is a vibrant part of South Austin, where the locals flock for hand-shaken margaritas made in the original way with fresh-squeezed lime juice. ¡Muy peligroso!

Rachel waits for a pedicab fare in Austin during SXSW.

An older man in a camouflage jacket sits with both hands on a cane in a cluttered workshop hung with an American flag and collected ironwork.

A man in a frayed straw hat and green mirrored sunglasses stands on a sunlit beach, the photographer reflected in his lenses.

A man with a long white beard and a leather vest looks through dark glasses, his cap pinned with a Live to Ride patch.

A woman sits in a tattoo chair as an artist works a koi-and-wave piece on her shoulder.

Scott Mulder holds a young black lamb against his chest in front of a weathered white barn at dusk.

Alnaldo, a waiter at Toro Salao in Old San Juan, stands in the restaurant doorway after the lunch crowd.

A cowgirl in a white hat crouches behind soot-blackened coffee pots at a Bar U Ranch chuck wagon in the Alberta foothills.

Andrew Yoder, dusty from work, looks into the camera in a frayed baseball cap.

Atkinson, a farmer, watches a hay sale in northeast Iowa.

Raymond, a bartender at the Bacardi rum distillery in San Juan, Puerto Rico, stands behind a bar lined with rum bottles, limes, and cocktails.

Kim Anton, in a red neckerchief and cowboy hat, pauses at a fence at Bar U Ranch in the foothills near Calgary, Alberta.

Baxter, a retired treasury accountant, checks cattle on his son’s Iowa farm, two black cows in the pasture behind him.

Ben Halperin, co-owner of the Augusta Restaurant in Oxford, Iowa, holds the breaded pork tenderloin named Iowa’s best in 2009.

Blake Cooper, a livestock sorter at the auction barn in Creston, Iowa, pauses in the cold after decades of working cattle.

Bruce Long, in stained work bibs and a cap, leans against a barn post in a black-and-white portrait.

Caitlyn looks into the camera at night in a walking mall in Mesa, Arizona.

An older cowboy in a straw hat and plaid shirt stands among livestock stalls.

John Newton, a pilot for Air Advantage in Mount Pleasant, stands with his yellow Ag-Cat biplane at the Ottumwa, Iowa, airport.

Dan Backer poses with his therapy dog Jesse after a session at ChildServe in Johnston, Iowa.

Deanna Reger, owner of Three Sisters Pies, holds two of her handmade pies at a farmers market stall.

Bill stands with his hands on his hips in a waist-high cornfield, farm buildings in the valley behind him.

A man in a straw hat and plaid shirt holds a canvas picking bag overflowing with red-and-yellow apples in an orchard.

A woman at a Pella, Iowa, meat market holds up rings of smoked bologna, a Dutch flag hanging on the wall behind her.

Catherine Swoboda a lecturer in horticulture at Iowa State University has taken the message of agriculture to the world state with her postion at Iowa State University and the World Food Prize organization.

Bryan Reed, a cattle farmer near Albia, Iowa, stands in a winter pasture with his herd grazing the hills behind him.

Alex Megos smiles for the camera during the finals of the IFSC World Cup Climbing competition in Vail, Colorado. Megos, a German climber, Not only does Megos have over 40 routes graded 9a or higher under his belt (possibly more than anyone in the world) he's also the first person to ever 'flash' a route graded 9 or higher

Tim Lauth, a Customs and Border Patrol agent stands in the customs area where people on flights from around the world come to the U.S.

Chuck Long tosses a football in downtown Des Moines. Long led the Iowa Hawkeyes to the Rose Bowl and had a successful NFL career with the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams.

Chuck McCrory of Crowley, Texas smiles during a portrait at the World Chili Cookoff Championships.

A woman with thanaka paste on her cheeks stands in a lace blouse, a golden pagoda behind her.

Mack Walker serves chili samples during the Internatioanl Chili Society's World Chili Cook Off in Ankeny, Iowa.

A turkey farmer holds a large white bird against his chest in front of a weathered barn wall.

Kystal Nielsen a co-owner of Good Vibes Cafe in Solon, Iowa holds a cup of coffee. Nielsen and her sister Kari Haugse opened the coffee house and cafe in their hometown of Solon.

A woman at a market stall strings yellow beads at a table covered with a red woven cloth, finished earrings laid out beside her.

Kenneth Quinn, a Dubuque, Iowa native, has traveled the world and advocated for agriculture for the majority of his life. He served as Ambassador to Cambodia and carried the torch for the late Norman Borlaug by heading the World Food Prize.

An elderly man in a fedora clasps a wooden cane in a black-and-white portrait, his face deeply lined.

Mary Kuster Shell, a food scientist, has developed new food products for local, regional and Fortune 500 companies. Her favorite food lab is her home kitchen where she constantly experiments. You can find out more here: https://foodsciencesecrets.com

Francisco Leyva-Gutierrez examines an experiment while searching for new uses for soybean oil at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

Lexi Marek holds two pigs at her family farm near Riverside, Iowa.

Tao Fei, a scientist at the Food Science Lab at Iowa State University, examines a solution while trying to find new uses for soybean oil.

Kristin Porter, creator of the food blog Iowa Girl Eats, holds a coffee mug at Smokey Row.

Peter Zeihan, a geopolitical strategist, speaks during the Peoples Land Investment Expo in Des Moines, Iowa.

John Pakusich, a volunteer on the battleship USS Iowa, stands on deck in a jacket embroidered with his name and the ship’s hull number.

A street poet holds up a typewritten verse sealed in red wax beside a typewriter on a New Orleans sidewalk.

Rick Juchems scans a soggy soybean field near Plainfield, Iowa. Juchems and other farmers have been sidelined from harvest as they wait for rain systems to move throuhg Iowa.

In the kitchen with Luaren Grant, creator of the Zestful Kitchen food blog.

Wente, in a work shirt and cap, stands in front of a red tractor in a freshly tilled field.

Rosemary Seward of New Virginia holds one of her laying hens during the Poultry Show at the Warren County Fair July 24, 2020 in Indianola, Iowa.

A young man in a beanie and worn Carhartt overalls stands in front of a barn wall of peeling red paint.

A woman in a green fur vest and yellow-tinted glasses leans on her bicycle on a brick sidewalk under a neon bar sign.

A bearded man in a heavy work jacket stands beside a feed trough as cattle eat along the line behind him.

A boy in a cowboy hat and plaid shirt stands against a white wooden wall, a trophy buckle on his worn jeans.

Emily stands on a sandy path toward the dunes, a violin and bow held across her dress.

Erika holds out a tall glass topped with whipped cream and a cherry from behind a soda fountain counter.

A man in a straw hat and mud-caked rubber boots stands with his arms crossed in a harvested field pocked with puddles.

A painter in a Freedom Rock hoodie and paint-splattered jeans stands beside a boulder mural of a kneeling soldier and an American flag.

Fuzzy stands in a booth hung with airbrushed flame panels, his shirt advertising pinstriping, airbrush, and signs.

Garrett Hill leans against the storefront of Subsect Skateshop, a shelf of skate shoes visible through the glass.

A gunfighter in a cowboy hat and dark glasses aims two revolvers straight at the camera.

Pamela Miranda, a waitress at French's Hamburger Inn a 1930's roadside restraunt in Bloomfield, IA stops for a quick portrait. Every year for the restraunts anniversary in December the owners sell nickle hamburgers on tea rolls. Miranda has worked at the restraunt for six months.

A Hawkeye cheerleader holds a yellow pom-pom on the grass of a football stadium, IOWA across her chest.

A hunter in a camouflage mask and Whitetail Predator cap holds a compound bow in the woods.

An ice cream man stands beside a paint-splattered Ford truck flying a Puerto Rican flag from the bumper.

Sierra Blair-Coyle, Team USA, smiles during the IFSC Climbing Vail World Cup on June 7, 2019, in Vail, Colorado.

A Chinese policeman in a teal dress uniform with a yellow aiguillette and a smiley-face pin stands in an urban plaza.

Dr. Michaela Musilova stands on volcanic rock outside a geodesic dome, her jacket covered in NASA and HI-SEAS mission patches.

An internet auctioneer works a laptop from a booth overlooking crowded bleachers in a livestock arena.

John Lawrence leans on a circular railing inside a building marked Agriculture Hall.

Julie stands on a narrow street in a zebra-print dress, a line of parked cars behind her.

Lacey Corcoran sits at a classroom desk beneath a banner that reads Lace ‘em Up 4 Lacey.

A livestock farmer in a Pitchfork Cattle Co. cap stands in a snow-covered pasture with cattle behind him.

Roy Bardole, in an Iowa Soybean Association cap, stands with his arms crossed against a peeling white farm building.

Lola weaves a square of straw at a stall stacked with Bahamas hats and handbags.

A farm mechanic sits in his shop in front of a turquoise wall of wrenches hung by size.

A waiter in a white shirt and black bow tie presents a cup of coffee at the Mallorca counter.

Marilyn Adams holds a model grain wagon packed with corn, a small figure trapped in the grain.

Mark Jackson sits on the hatch of a corrugated grain bin, fields and a rural road stretching below.

A master boiler operator rests a soiled glove on a steaming metal lid, a measuring cup of pale liquid beside it.

A McGregor merchant leans on a glass counter in a shop lined with stacked hats.

Meredith Rich holds a barred-rock hen inside a dim barn, nesting boxes along the wall.

Mike Dawson carries a red Bliss-Stick kayak on his shoulder, bib 39 from the Teva Mountain Games on his chest and a river in the canyon below.

Milo carries a coil of wire over his shoulder in a snow-covered farmyard.

Kelli stands on a boardwalk at night with a harness of test-tube shots, Ruby House in the window behind her.

Mump stands with his arms crossed in a tattoo studio, flash art covering the red wall behind him.

A hatter in a shop apron stands at a counter of felt hats inside Optimo Hatworks.

A woman sits among the seats at the Orpheum Theater, the house logo projected on the screen behind her.

A man with a broom stands in the doorway of Peggy Sue's Good Eats, a vintage car mounted above the entrance.

Phoenix stands against a blue sky in a white blouse and black sweater vest.

The Pie Lady sits at a kitchen table crowded with pies, muffins, and loaves of bread.

A bearded man in a canvas vest sits for a close portrait, hat brims hanging on the wall behind him.

A rodeo cowboy in a denim-and-mesh hat and aviator sunglasses smiles in late-day light.

Ron West stands in a denim shirt and suspenders in front of a wooden wall hung with rifles.

A sheep shearer in a Benni Shearing shirt holds mechanical shears beside a pen of sheep.

Hal stands in overalls in front of a red barn covered in vintage advertising signs.

A slopestyle rider in a Shimano helmet sits on a yellow mountain bike as another rider jumps a dirt mound behind him.

A young woman sits in a studio armchair against a white backdrop, an XO printed on her tank top.

Tanner Rowe leans on a cattle gate inside a hoop barn packed with beef cattle.

Tarbaby sits on a log bench with a Chelada in hand, a drag-racing starting tree behind him.

Terri stands among parked motorcycles in a pink halter top, her mohawk catching the sun.

A San Francisco trolley operator stands on the platform of car 14, the sign reading Market Street and Fisherman’s Wharf.

Tyler Savage kneels with Charlie, a chocolate Labrador holding a stick, on a gravel lot in the mountains.

Greg Tylka examines a petri dish of tangled roots beside a microscope in a laboratory.

An Honor Flight veteran stands with his arms crossed in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial.

William Hosko sits at a desk of architectural sketches, framed drawings covering the wall behind him.

A wind farmer stands in a cornfield with a white turbine rising into the sky behind him.

A performer in a Wonder Woman costume sits on a red multi-rider bicycle in Times Square at night.

William leans against a tractor in a DEKALB cap, a muddy tire beside him and hay bales in the field behind.

A yogaslacker kneels barefoot on a lawn beside a slackline, an Om pendant at his neck.

Yvonne Wente stands beside a weathered white grain wagon on a farm.

Melanie Kelekolio, an expert salt maker at the Kona Sea Salt farm, stands at their production facility in Kona, Hawaii.