Storage Building

Torrington, Connecticut

TIRE

Meriden, Connecticut

Old Apartment Buildings

New Britain, Connecticut

White, Yellow, White

Shelton, Connecticut

In Progress

Meriden, Connecticut

Brick and Clapboard

Athens, New York

Backyard Buildings and Cars

Athens, New York

77

Athens, New York

It's an Idea...

Shelton, Connecticut

Jenny K CLEANERS

Meriden, Connecticut

Buildings and Signs

Athens, New York

Adolf's Meat & Sausage Kitchen

Hartford, Connecticut

Morgan St.

Meriden, Connecticut

Golden Court, Faded Rainbow Door

Union City, Connecticut

48

Waterbury, Connecticut

YORK

Peekskill, New York

Yellow Building

Peekskill, New York

FOR RENT, FOR LEASE

Peekskill, New York

COLDEST BEER

Hudson, New York

Spring Trees, X

Union City, Connecticut

Spring Trees, IX

Ansonia, Connecticut

Spring Trees, XIII

Peekskill, New York

Spring Trees, XII

Waterbury, Connecticut

Spring Trees, XI

Woodbury, Connecticut

Spring Trees, X

Waterbury, Connecticut

Spring Trees, IX

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Spring Trees, VIII

Waterbury, Connecticut

Spring Trees, VII

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Spring Trees, VI

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Spring Trees, V

Woodbury, Connecticut

Spring Trees, IV

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Spring Trees, III

Woodbury, Connecticut

Spring Trees, II

Woodbury, Connecticut

Logue Farms, in a light rain.

Spring Trees, I

Woodbury, Connecticut

Side Yard, Factory Complex

Waterbury, Connecticut

ENCO

Waterbury, Connecticut

Wall, II

Waterbury, Connecticut

Wall, I

Waterbury, Connecticut

Brick and Stone Building

Waterbury, Connecticut

BFGoodrich

Thomaston, Connecticut

I've Been Doing Building Portraits for a Long Time

Buckeye, West Virginia

This 8x10 shot from early in 2002, near the beginning of my serious effort to photograph the American drive-in theater and its resonance with the varied regional landscape, has always been a favorite. Which might explain why I find that people, everyone more or less who looks at this project, talks about abandoned drive-in theaters, when, in fact, the majority of the pictures are of theaters that are, or at least were at the time, fully operational.

The other problem this picture brings up is, there are at least two other pictures from this venue that are nearly as good. As I work toward the design of the DI book, the problem is whether to aim at a Spartan presentation of only a few, or go for a really thick book with a whole lot of pictures. I never set out to document all of them, but I find myself wanting the book to be as comprehensive as possible. I've shot somewhere around 250 theaters though...

As an aside, here is a cut from my Shooting Log:

Buckeye drive-in. Complete surprise, clearly derelict but the screen is in surprisingly nice shape. There’s a tiny barbershop adjacent to the entry, and the barber confirms it’s a DI.  A guy hanging out in the shop says he helped build the drive-in when he was a teen-ager, back in the fifties. Another says it stopped operating twenty years ago. Barber says the odd thing is that the screen was blown over by a storm, then rebuilt for $25K, but then the theater never reopened with the newly built screen. Caravans for a carnival or street vendor fair are parked all over the lot along with decrepit projection house and very derelict ticket booth.11:00, five different views including some from the back of the lot with 14 inch, an approach I haven’t tried before, then closer views with 240. Buckeye has a post office—in a trailer, and not a new trailer.

Fast Food

Waterbury, Connecticut

It was some sort of fried chicken place, not the biggest chain, and seemed to go through several re-openings over the past ten or fifteen years, but it's back empty again.

VARGAS CORNER MARKET

Torrington, Connecticut

Waterbury, Connecticut

The Pink Stripe

Waterbury, Connecticut