“Rest Stop” is an ongoing project consisting of photographs of roadside rest areas in California, New York, Arizona, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah and New Mexico. In systematically documenting rest stops across the United States, just prior to their closure due to state budget cuts, I aim to document an instance of individuality within a world that is headed for homogenization. My photographs strive to highlight the importance of distinctiveness and authenticity and the trend within society to choose the cost effective route at the peril of character as is evidenced by the rapid extinction of architecturally unique rest stops in the United States.
This project originated from my childhood memories at rest stops in the United States. I treasured my experiences at rest stops due to not only the relief they provided but more so because of the individual charm of each rest stop. Unfortunately as 2010 is upon us states including but not limited to Virginia, Georgia, California, Maryland, Arizona, Louisiana, New Hampshire and Maine have announced or already commenced the closing of rest stops to be replaced by commercialized service stations consisting of identical architecture, identical food options and identical restrooms.
My intentions when photographing rest stops are multi fold. First, I wish to memorialize my childhood memories. This intention is, although personally important, largely irrelevant to the viewer. In these images I do not aim to transmit the notion of warm childhood memories. Rather, I seek to create a documented collection of this unique aspect of Americana, before it no longer exists. These images embody a more objective, barren point of view conveyed by the absence of human beings, strict geometric compositions and attention to symmetry. This can be attributed to the ultimate goal of this project serving as an archive for rest stops across the United States as culturally and architecturally significant structures. Therefore, I am personally attached to this project as an act of memorialization. However, my far more significant intention when photographing rest stops is to document them, in their wonderful individuality and complete lack of private or commercial establishments, before they become extinct.
The photographic documentation of roadside rest areas is important to me personally, but even more so important for the preservation of this facet of human history. The individuality of the architecture of each rest stop was intended from their emergence in the 1960s. When the development of rest areas first began the design aesthetics employed in their construction intended to embody characteristics unique to the region and additionally functioned to provide a sense of place within the Interstate System via imaginative design elements. Therefore, rest areas functioned as much more than simple pit stops. Rest stops aimed to relieve the bladders of drivers but additionally provide drivers a respite from the monotony of the highway. Therefore, these structures serve as a record of human ingenuity in a world that is seemingly being drained of all individuality.
