American history teacher and photographer Joseph Sohm has released "Visions of America," his collection of 1,300 images taken over the past 30 years. Accompanying these portraits are 21 essays Sohm has written to help answer the question "How do you photograph democracy?"

Winner of a gold medal at the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards at Book Expo America, "Visions of America"examines presidential politics and captures striking panoramas that depict the effects of global warming and urban decay.

In addition to this book, Sohm wrote, photographed and produced the...