Roadside America
Roadside America in the southwest of the USA has a peculiar but overwhelming charm. Driving on its highways takes the traveler to outstanding, well-known landscapes but also through fascinating semi-deserts. Population is sparse, and one frequently encounters abandoned settlements bearing testimony of a long-perished mining industry and foundered businesses. Along scenic byways one comes across abandoned gas stations and motels that are no longer accessible from the presently used Interstate roads. In some cases, the modern road system has cut whole villages off their lifelines, sentencing them to abandonment and decay. My series on Roadside America started in the summer of 2009 and continued in 2016. The photos shown in this series were taken in August 2016 in Arizona, New Mexico and California. One photo of the series won the travel category of the Sony World Photography Award (SWPA) 2017 and the Germany National Award within the SWPA.
