Highway-tripping Photographer Presents Snapshops of Route 66

Published March twelfth, 2026 at 12:00 am

As Route 66 approaches its a centesimal anniversary, documentary photographer Craig Kilgore is bringing a brand new physique of labor to New Mexico that displays on the street’s previous and current. His touring exhibition, Before 100: Route 66 Now, will cease in Albuquerque and Tucumcari this March as a part of a five-city tour highlighting communities alongside the historic freeway.

The exhibition attracts from pictures Kilgore captured throughout a 28 day journey alongside Route 66 in March 2024. Traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles and again, Kilgore documented cities, streetscapes, signage and roadside particulars that reveal how communities alongside the route have modified over time.

“The work towards sharing all this really became more of a priority because of the importance that I think Route 66 has in the American mythology of it, the mythos and the example of how Route 66 is an example of American resilience,” says Kilgore.

That thought of resilience turned a central theme all through his travels. Many cities alongside Route 66 have been bypassed when interstate highways have been constructed, forcing communities to adapt and reimagine their native economies.

“For me, personally, the idea of how a community survives after rerouting was what I was really interested in witnessing,” says Kilgore. “The people themselves and what they make of their own communities, despite no longer potentially having a direct connection to Route 66 part of their community, was one of the points that I was really interested in seeing.”

The exhibition additionally highlights the variety of landscapes and communities alongside the route. Kilgore explains that the New Mexico stretch of Route 66 supplied a very putting distinction.

“It’s a diverse part of our country,” says Kilgore. “You have towns like Albuquerque that have very diverse economies that still have a tie to that heritage of the road, and then you have the Native American communities that are in New Mexico and the vast distances that are between communities.”

Kilgore explains that these vast open landscapes usually depart a powerful impression on guests touring the historic freeway. “You are left with these areas of desert that for a lot of Americans seems almost like another world,” says Kilgore. “The diversity of the landscape of New Mexico makes it exciting.”

Visitors to the exhibition will see framed pictures in addition to photograph zines, small self revealed books that current a sequence of photographs from the journey. For Kilgore, the format affords a unique option to expertise the work and perceive the journey.

“For zines you are allowed to show a series, so you’re kind of forced to experience a progression of photographs as the artist intended,” says Kilgore.

Ultimately, Kilgore hopes viewers depart the exhibition with a broader understanding of Route 66 and the deeper historical past linked to it.

“I hope they get a different appreciation for the Route 66 heritage,” says Kilgore. “There’s many other aspects of Route 66 that, history-wise, are very important to our national identity that should be part of the dialog.”

Before 100: Route 66 Now will seem in Albuquerque on March 14 from 1 to 7 p.m. at Marble Brewery. The exhibition will even be put in March 27 and 28 from 4 to six p.m. on the Apache Motel Lobby Gallery in Tucumcari. Both exhibitions are free and open to the general public.

Before 100: Route 66 Now

Saturday, March 14

1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Marble Brewery

111 Marble Ave NW

Free.

Friday, March 27 & Saturday, March 28

4 p.m. to six p.m.

The Lobby Gallery on the Apache Motel

1106 E. Route 66 Blvd, Tucumcari

Free.

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