Battle Ground, USA

In Battle Ground, USA, Rotterdam-based photographer Marc Nolte turns his lens toward rural America, a place where traditional values remain deeply rooted. The project takes its name, ironically, from a town named after a battle that never took place.

After several visits to New York, he realized that his view of America was incomplete. Through this work, he seeks to understand what drives people in the country’s more rural regions, particularly in a politically charged moment.

The photographs reveal a landscape that appears serene and ideal, yet beneath its surface something unresolved seems to simmer — a quiet tension that hints at the complexities of contemporary America.