The American photographer Ryann Ford, with a recent campaign on Kickstarter – The Last Stop – has completed a work really fascinating. It is more than 150 American rests stop photographed and immortalized in all their uniqueness and their history. Yes, because in addition to being a memory for many people who have gone to them in their lives, these American rest stops were an integral part of driving for interstate travelers.
From an architectural point of view, these small architectures are each equipped with a certain character. Far away from the standardization of the various Mac Donald and Burger King. Each of them pay tribute to the geography, geology, and history of the region they represent.
“When I started it, I was mostly interested in creating pretty pictures. But as I got more into the project, and I put it online, I started getting emails from people. Baby boomers who remember going to these rest stops and eating their sandwiches there back in the day wrote to me to share their stories. I realized that the project was a lot deeper than I had ever thought,” Ryann Ford said on Slate.
And when the editors on Citylab, ask which one is her favorite American rests stop, she has ideas very clear:
“I definitely do have my favorites though. White Sands, New Mexico, (the one in the cover) was probably the most amazing. (…) You couldn’t take a bad picture at that place”
Via Wired