Long Exposure. Supai Motel in Seligman, Arizona Short Film.

The video was created by Andrew Wood, a professor at San Jose State University and a longtime roadie. He owns the Motel Americana website, and published “City Ubiquitous,” in which Route 66 played a prominent role. Ron Warnick review of his book is here.

The photography of Richard Misrach.

The photographs of Richard Misrach are among some of my favorite. Misrach has a way of connecting to me through his depiction of spatial quality and subtlety in color.

His photographs in the Desert Cantos series are particularly special to me. They remind me of long roadtrips through Arizona and Nevada in the heat of the summer. Delicate shifts in faded color differentiate sky from land. The loneliness of his photographs is portrayed through absence of humans but the effect of humanity is clearly portrayed through objects left behind. The scale of his landscapes are shown through these objects as well.

You can see more of his work here and here.

Robert Mars & Chris Gwaltney art opening at Peter Blake, Laguna Beach, CA

I have an art opening with Chris Gwaltney at Peter Blake Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA. The opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 1, 2009 from 6-9PM. We will both be in attendance so please stop by and say hello if you are in the area.

This body of work is from a roadtrip of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado that I took earlier this year. Over 2000 miles, 3 time zones and 4 states in 10 days!

To see more of the show go here.



"Superpower" 40"x 40"


"Simply Superb" 60" x 60"


"Satisfies Best" 12" x 12"


"On The Road" 36" x 48"


"Best Minute Of The Day" 40" x 40"

Southwest Roadtrip with my Diana Camera.

On a recent roadtrip through the Southwest I had a chance to test out my Christmas present from the wife...a Diana camera! I have several Holga's, an Olympus Pen ee split frame camera and the usual DSLR's so the Diana was new fun! My trip took me through 2 time zones, 4 states and over 2,200 miles. Here are a few of the photos from my travels.

The Diana operates in the same manner as the Holga. It takes medium format film and you get vignetting and light leaks. It has that 1970's photo quality minus the rounded edges. There are 3 focus settings and you have the option to keep the shutter open for long exposures. It's a great looking camera with its retro blue and black color.


Twin Arrows, Arizona


Twin Arrows, Arizona


Blank Sign, New Mexico


Blank Sign, Arizona


Motel Pool Yucca, Arizona


Teepee Motel Route 66, Holbrook, Arizona


Box Truck Gallup, New Mexico


Whiting Bros. Yucca, Arizona


Whiting Bros. Grants, New Mexico


Closed/Cerrado Winslow, Arizona


On the highway, Route 40, New Mexico


Double D Tires, Flagstaff, Arizona


For Lease Kingman, Arizona


Gas Mart, Holbrook, Arizona

RIP Frontier Motel, Flagstaff, Arizona.

I am sad to add another classic neon motel sign to the RIP list. It seems that the Frontier Motel on Historic Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona is the latest casualty of demolition. I am not sure if the sign was saved somewhere for restoration but this is just another example of the homogenization of America.




Night shot from flickr user Куртис Перри.