To produce Circumstance, the Formentos embarked on a one-year road trip in a 1969 Airstream from 2008 to 2010. They traveled from New York to Los Angeles and back, photographing women they met along the way. This series embodies the combined American vision of both BJ and Richeille by referencing classic American paintings, cinema, and landmarks such as the Hollywood sign. These stirring, unapologetic photographs bring forward the legacy of change, economic depression, and transience which has been prevalent in the history of America. In order to capture a country during uncertain times, the subjects are dramatically lit and transformed into heroines and femme fatales, each caught in an intense moment of emotion and reflection. The characters in today’s settings seem as if searching for their own meaning or a new definition of place, which is an homage to the grit from which today’s America springs. The series was so narratively successful, they went on to do similar shoots in the series across Europe.