What started as a simple project documenting different motel signs has grown to two or possibly three projects. That combined with finally pushing “Working Stiffs – Tools of the Trade” photobook out the door it looks to be a busy fall here at fotographie wester.
Let’s roll back the clock a bit to earlier this year, around April. We went down to Medicine Hat to take my mother-in
-law to a cousin's 85th birthday celebration and I was tickled by the sign for one of the old motels along the TCH. These signs were all the rage back in the 50s and 60s, a weird and wonderful pastiche of mid-century design and kitsch. When I was young I stayed in many when on family vacations. The Davy Crockett in Kamloops (20 foot tall Davy outside), the Sahara in Cache Creek whose signage channelled The Sands in Vegas to name two.
Many of these signs are disappearing as the old motels are torn down and replaced by modern resorts and chain motels. I felt it was important to start photographing them so that they wouldn’t be forgotten. Probably many others have done the same but it’s something I felt I needed to do.
As I started prowling southern Alberta (and parts of the interior of British Columbia) more images started creeping onto my camera: photographs of the old small town hotels and motels attached to the signs. The defunct businesses found in many small towns started to show up. These often reflected the hopes and dreams of entrepreneurs thinking there was a market for their goods and services and realising there wasn’t enough population to support them.
Now I have three projects: “Small Town Hotels and No-Tell Motels”, “Dusty Roads of Broken Dreams” and “Roadside Attractions and Other Symbols”
Going through my back catalogue I found that I had many more images that would fit into these projects. My first task will be to keyword them all and try and remember where the heck I made the image. Memo to file: “Remember to make a location tagged image with your iPhone.”
It’s going to be a busy fall and winter and if the Farmers’ Almanac is right there’ll be a lot of cold days to hunker down and get after it.
Happy days.
