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Call it cultural anthropology. I am drawn to signs and buildings that have obviously seen better days. I love the stubborn nature of these remnants of another time, the wonderful typefaces, the individualistic nature of the signs themselves, the use of color - albiet now mostly faded. To me, these signs speak volumes. The way they must have beckoned travelers, tired and hungry...and continue to do so, for those of us not looking for the sameness of today's chains. To me, they stylistically thumb their noses at the disgusting same-ness that today's chains bombard us with. Do I need to see another Starbucks sign? No, I do not.
It is important to me to photograph these examples of American commerce as I make my travels, if for no other reason than to document a dying breed. And to me the most emotional way to represent these subjects is to do so in black and white photography, using a Holga camera whose shortcomings mimic a simpler time.
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