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Motels in North America

These photographs show the original American budget travel accommodation, the independent motel. The decline of such motels since the 1950's hey day of car travel is occurring as fast as they were constructed, usually being used for 20 years before their demolition. A new breed of motel chains found along new freeways and intersections close to towns are fiercely competitive offering cheap, clean and featureless accommodation. Older motels dating from the 1950's can be found along old state highways, and on the outskirts of towns. Usually in a run down state, a mixture of clientele, not only travelers, using them.

I concentrated on shooting four pictures for each motel, a presentation of fading styles and designs. The four photographs show the architecture, interior, owner, and resident. On occasions the resident features as a missing presence, a poignant indication of the terminal decline of their custom. Photographed on high-resolution colour slide film they give the impression of the Kodachrome 64 film popular at the time in domestic and professional photography, when independent motels were in their prime.

Through the project I hoped to show an American way of life in decline, in a country were the big modern chain motels are now king.

There are 36 motels in the series photographed across 17 states in 1995.