The American Motor Lodge

There is something beautiful about vintage motels and Polaroid film. It's like they were made for each other. In my travels across the U.S., I've made it my goal to try and capture and preserve the great American family vacation culture. Reminiscing about times growing up when these motor lodges were the place where memories were made. Back then times were simpler and customer service was about quality, not just quantity. These motor lodges possessed a certain individuality to them that you don't see anymore in the cookie cutter style hotels of the modern era. Among that individuality was the sign that posed as a "first impression" of sorts. This sign was something that the customer would see coming down the road and depending on how unique and individualistic your sign was could determine whether or not a family would pull over for the night and also how they would remember their stay. These iconic motor lodges are fading out of existence, but the photos that I hope to show of them still hold a lingering breath of the original spirit of travel in the mid-century United States.

Stats: Polaroid Colorpack III, Polaroid 690 Instant Peel-apart film
San Pedro Avenue, San Antonio, Texas, October 2000

Garish: Roadside Color Polaroids Released

I am pleased to announce the release of my first book, Garish: Roadside Color Polaroids, published by Middlebrow Books.

Garish is the culmination of many tens of thousands of miles and many thousands of Polacolor photographs I've taken over the decades since the late 1980s.  

This handsome edition includes a color monograph with 80 original prints in lustrous four-color, printed by master printers in Hong Kong. With an insightful essay by John DeFore, striking graphic design by Deidre Adams, and additional photography by Laura Klecker, Garish is a masterfully executed book that will enliven any coffee table (though it probably won't remain there long, whenever friends and family drop in).

Garish is on sale at amazon.com. 

eBook versions are available for sale for the amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Chapters Indigo in Canada for Kobo readers.

Garish: The Cutting Room Floor

U.S. Route 87, Union County, New Mexico, February 2002

According to artist Deidre Adams, this place is still standing, at least as of early 2009.  I wonder how many decades or centuries America's ruins will hold up before ultimately being reclaimed by the earth.  

Garish: The Cutting Room Floor

U.S. Route 14, St. Charles, Minnesota, April 2009

I found this lovely place whilst driving on my daily commute to Winona State University. I did not partake of its bodily mutilation services, however ;).

Garish: The Cutting Room Floor

U.S. Route 11, Abingdon, Virginia, July 2007

This proud-as-a-peacock rooster stands tall, representing the great Dutt & Wagner Company of Virginia.  Their fine products include eggs, meat, poultry, and kickass roadside signage.

Garish: The Cutting Room Floor

U.S. Route 52, Cannon Falls, Minnesota, June 2009

Companion image to the preceding, taken on the way home.

Book cover design for "Garish"

The multitalented Deidre Adams designed this highly-saturated dust jacket cover for my first photography book, Garish: Roadside Color Polaroids, to be released later this year.

The book will feature a main portfolio section of 80 original photographs, taken between 1988 and 2009.  I started this series, captured on Polaroid's 669 and 690 films, quite by accident -- when traveling I always carry my Colorpack III instant camera, so I can make postcards to send to friends and family.  Over time, I realized I had grown a sentimental attachment to the camera and the process, and a unique way of expressing my affinity with the oddities and overlooked artistic masterpieces found along the highways of North America.

With an essay by writer John DeFore, this is one book that belongs on your coffee table!

More to come....