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Kyle Rouse and his best friends, Bill and Alex Ross, set out on a river adventure in October 2011. Rouse, a native of Piqua, Ohio, and the Ross brothers, who are from the nearby town of Sidney, traveled on a pontoon boat named the “Rosemarie,” and made the trip from Cincinnati to New Orleans via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The trip lasted nearly a month—they arrived in New Orleans just in time for Halloween. The idea was hatched and planned while Rouse and the Rosses were in Texas shooting a documentary film for their aptly named Ross Bros film company. One of their most recent works, entitled Tchoupitoulas, was one of the last films to be picked up by the late Adam Yauch’s (aka MCA of Beastie Boys fame) Oscilloscope distribution company before he passed away. Rouse is now offering the public a unique way to experience this journey for themselves through his self-published book, titled simply, Cincinnati to New Orleans. The book is primarily made up of images that Rouse took along the way using an old-school film camera instead of a newer digital model. “Using film instead of a digital camera made me learn to see things intuitively,” Rouse says. “Because I knew I only had a set number of pictures to take, I learned to be more aware of what was happening around me and how to capture something really unique.” Along with the pictures, the story of the trip to New Orleans is told via journal entries typed on an old typewriter by Rouse. The journal entries take readers into the minds of the travelers and paint vivid pictures of American life along the forgotten backwaters and rusted-out small towns. “You learn a lot about yourself living 24 hours a day around the same people in a small boat stuck out on the water,” Rouse says. “But then, we also learned a lot about the people of America, and I’ll tell you what, that Credence song is right, people on the river are happy to give (referencing the song “Proud Mary”)." More than two thirds of the way through their voyage, the Rosemarie wrecked and had to be left behind. Despite that setback, the crew did make it to New Orleans. After spending several months reviewing his pictures, Rouse began to compile them in order to tell a story. “The images in this book aren’t perfect, but they show emotion, which I think is more important,” he says. Self-published only this past spring, the initial short-run of Cincinnati to New Orleans has already sold out and a second press run is being planned now. In addition to Rouse’s book, the Ross brothers made a film about the trip, entitled River, which aired initially in eight segments on the Internet. Since then, the four-man crew was invited to Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival to screen the film in its entirety there, where it became one of the surprise favorites. Rouse says that perhaps the reason why the trip has resonated with people is the longing for adventure within all of us. “In situations like that, you understand just what you yourself can do as a person.” Learn more about “Cincinnati to New Orleans” which is also on Facebook. “River” will screen in Cincinnati on Sept. 30 at Washington Park. By Sean Peters
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