In the 1910s and 1920s, Western films became a cornerstone of American cinema, presenting the country as a land of purpose, possibility, and boundless opportunity. The genre reinforced the idea that determination led to reward, shaping an enduring myth of the American dream.
By the 1970s, the Acid Western emerged—a genre that used the familiar iconography of the Wild West as a stage for psychedelia and disillusionment. These films transformed the frontier into a space of existential questioning, signaling that America was losing the plot. Their unresolved warnings reflected a growing uncertainty about the future.
Fifty years later, New York creative duo Aily Zeltser and Karina Modyle revisit this landscape in their editorial Point Range, asking: Where has this path led us today?
Drawing from the current revival of Americana and the Acid Western’s theme of reinterpreting the familiar, Point Range follows a heroine navigating an uncertain world—politically, environmentally, and personally. The symbols of Americana, once romanticized as emblems of freedom and limitless possibility, now feel distant, fractured by shifting realities. This narrative explores the darker undercurrents of these symbols, challenging their meaning and reclaiming them to reflect the complexity of the present. A series photographed by Toni Bakalli.