The Inevitable

“it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when” My love for the automobile goes back as far as I can remember. As a child I would line my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars up, and then photograph them from different angles for hours on end with my parent’s camera. Back then gas was cheap, and there was no thought that fossil fuels would wreak havoc on our earth. America’s love of the automobile was due to innovation, the desire for latest and greatest, and the thrill of the open road. As we now approach the carbon tipping point, new electric powered cars will eventually render the gas station obsolete. Inspired by Ed Ruscha’s iconic 1963 book 26 Gas Stations, I have combined my passion for the automobile with my concern for the environment to photographically document the still plentiful gas station at this historically significant moment. My photographs are made at night with long exposures which create an almost ghostly image. Light trails from moving cars, and the glowing lights of the gas stations transform the image into an island of beauty, belying the reality. The aluminum surface of my prints helps to intensify the oasis of light that is the gas station, while also referencing the materiality of the car itself. Light becomes energized with streaks of color and continuous lines, inviting us into the future of renewable energy.