The latest exhibition by Sydney photographer Andrew Quilty documents the back roads and backwaters of North America. The images are the result of a three-month road trip in mid-2009.

The exhibition, Blue Highways USA Part 1, offers a bleak and unrelenting viewpoint of behind-the-scenes America. Hot, empty vistas are contrasted with poignant portraits of hillbilly life in the north-west.

“Irony aside, some of the scenes I came across could bring me to tears, while others made me literally run for my life,” said Quilty.

Quilty is best known for his coverage of the Cronulla Beach race riots in 2005. More recently, he has been capturing communities and environments struggling for survival, most notably the historic mining town of Catherine Hill Bay, the aftermath of the Victorian bush fires, the Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi.

Blue Highways USA Part 1 opens on May 1 for two weeks at Maunsell Wickes Gallery in Paddington, Sydney.