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Conflict photographers often face psychological and emotional trauma similar to that experienced by soldiers. Exposure to violence, instability, and death creates a high risk of PTSD, and separating from that intensity requires deliberate effort.
For Jared Moossy, motorcycle riding across America became a crucial therapeutic outlet. Beginning in 2011, he used long solo rides as a form of decompression, a way to step outside the stress of his professional work, covering warzones throughout the Middle East and the world. Riding a small motorcycle with limited fuel capacity coupled with a desire to explore real America, he found himself on state roads with frequent stops for gas. Those pauses created regular contact with people along the way, and with his camera always present, he began documenting these encounters. Over time, Blacktop Bruises grew into a visual record of everyday America, outside of politics, rooted in small towns and ordinary lives.
The project was interrupted in 2015 when Moossy was struck head-on by a drunk driver while riding. He remained in a coma for a month and underwent years of rehabilitation, emerging with extensive surgical reconstruction. Despite this, he eventually returned to riding and continued photographing until another serious accident in 2022, just a half-mile from his previous accident, ended his ability to continue.
My Blacktop Bruises combines the perspective of a conflict photographer with the need for personal recovery. It stands as both a portrait of America and a case study in how therapeutic practices can emerge from connecting with people and place.
About Jared Moossy
Jared Moossy is a photojournalist and filmmaker whose career began with more than a decade covering conflict zones worldwide. His early work documented the human impact of war, political instability, and social upheaval with a focus on direct, ground-level storytelling.
Moossy later transitioned into cinematography, carrying the same documentary perspective into film and television. He was asked by director Michael Mann to shoot HBO’s Witness, worked as cinematographer on the feature film Wheeler, and co-directed A Lucky Man for Time magazine, which went on to win a Webby Award. In 2019, he was recognized with the IATSE Emerging Cinematographer Award.
His background in conflict photography informs his visual approach to moving images, blending immediacy and empathy with a cinematic eye. This transition has allowed him to expand from still images to long-form narrative, while maintaining the focus on people and places at the center of his work.
To Experience “My Blacktop Bruises” DOWNLOAD TOTIM APP
