The Drive-In Movie Theater Photography Project

Today we have an interview with a very interesting travel photographer. Craig Deman has done a number of photography projects, including The Drive-In Project, a look at abandoned drive-in movie theaters across America. Since today is the 80th anniversary of the drive-in theater, we decided to have him as a guest.

Welcome to Gadling, Craig! Tell us a little about the project and what attracts you to abandoned drive-ins.

You know how some people can remember many details about their childhood and teenage years and some people can only remember a few? I fall into the latter category. Even though I might not remember a great amount of the details of my childhood, I do have vivid memories of my earliest experiences at drive-in movie theaters. I remember the first movie my mom took my sister and me to at a drive-in. Can you say … “Supercalifragilisticexxpialidocious”? I remember the names of the guys I was with in my friend Mike’s trunk when we snuck into our local drive-in. Without question, I remember the details of the first girl I was “with” at a drive-in movie theater!

Today, approximately 90 percent of drive-ins are closed from their peak in the late 1950s. As a lover of architectural and landscape photography, drive-in movie theaters represent defining moments and passion for me. The distressed and decaying wood of a ticket booth, overgrown and unwieldy shrubs/trees where cars once parked, matched by the enormous scale of a screen tower all together scream as loudly to me today as if I was back in the day we laughed with joy upon successfully gaining entrance to the drive-in while sequestered in my buddy’s trunk.

Putting it simply – it’s the raw emotion, still present, from almost 50 years ago, that attracts me to abandoned drive-ins. A lot of people respond to the imagery of my Drive-in Project by referring to it as “haunting.” I’m good with that, as long as those same people’s definition of the word haunting includes “Mary Poppins” and getting busy.

%Slideshow-577%When you were doing this project, did you get to meet any folks who used to go to these drive-ins?

The people I met from Alabama to Arizona or from Nevada to New York were universally eager and open to sharing their personal experiences at drive-in movie theaters. People expressed a breadth of emotions when describing individual feelings they held in their memories about drive-ins they had visited.

Let me tell you about a couple of folks I met. I was shooting the Lake Estes Drive-in (Colorado), when I met the owners John and Sharon, in order to gain access to the projection booth. When we entered the projection booth, my eyes opened as wide as a kid being offered candy, as this was the first and only abandoned projector booth that I came across that still had a projector in it. It was dusty and needed a tune up to be sure, but it was a beautiful hunk of metal. All I could think about was what an organically perfect interior setting this was for my series. The rawness of the setting evoked such visceral emotions.

John and Sharon are planning to redevelop the land where the drive-in was located over 20 years earlier. They want a “good home” for the beautiful hunk of metal and offered me the projector. As of this interview, I haven’t figured out where I could house it. I’m still thinking about it, to the dismay of some in my family.

I came across something unique when I was researching drive-ins to shoot in Tennessee. Brothers Ed and John grew up going to the Moonglo Drive-in located in Pulaski. They own a dealership and loved going to the Moonglo when they were growing up. They loved it so much that as adults they bought the property and built their car dealership around the Moonglo’s projection booth and screen.

It was too good pass up for this project, no matter how far I had to drive to get there. Ed and John are great guys and thanks to them, I captured some wonderful images. While they’re concentrating on growing their dealership, I don’t believe it would take too much to get them to consider firing up the Moonglo as an operating drive-in movie theater.

Do you have any tips for budding photographers who want to take their own images of abandoned Americana?

Yes, I call it the three Ps – plan well, be patient as well as persistent. The Drive-in Project was shot over a four-year period in ten different states. Living in California, I traveled thousands of miles to shoot 80 percent of the drive-ins within the series. Each and every location deserved to have painstaking thought put into each image and that’s what they each received. If the lighting wasn’t right at the time I was there, I slept in the rental car, hoping the next morning would bring better light.

The three Ps came into play often during those four years, but nowhere more so than the drive-in located in Commerce, Georgia. Initially, I couldn’t even find it. So many years have passed that the drive-in is now engulfed by a full-blown forest that has hidden the remnants of the screen and ticket booth from the main road.

After finally locating the screen through the forest, I loaded up my equipment and began to hike out to setup my camera, a Mamiya RZ67. Suddenly, I felt this incredibly sharp pain in my right foot. I had stepped on a 4-inch nail that pierced my shoe and was now embedded in the ball of my foot. I said to myself, “I have come this far, I have to keep going and get the shot.”

I loosened my shoe and pulled the nail out, hiking further into the forest to a clearing where the small remaining piece of the screen was visible. As I’m setting my tripod up, I heard this rustling and am joined by two Georgia State Troopers. The troopers informed me that I was trespassing on private property, but I’d done my research and I knew the name and contact info of the property owner who had given me permission to shoot there. The troopers ended up being nice guys and were quite interested in my project. They left me to do my work and just as I was feeling good about covering the three Ps until one of the troopers, as they were walking away, said, “Watch out for snakes around here!”

What’s next for you?

I’ve started a project that involves a 1950s “Normandie Starline Mod 1” beauty parlor chair, which I have named Marilyn. Marilyn has a beautiful chrome dryer top with a pink chair with an ashtray in the left arm and a swing handle that lifts the leg rest. Marilyn will be photographed in various environments juxtaposed against outdoor landscapes, models inside my studio and street scenes.

The name of my new project is: “Road Trip With Marilyn (RTWM).” Although I am only about 20 percent into my RTWM project, I have found that Marilyn helps me in a couple of ways as a photographer. Marilyn is a great icebreaker; her physical appearance attracts and pulls people into the space she is placed in. People are anxious to play with her and pose with her chrome dryer top. I’m excited about hitting the road with Marilyn and capturing an eclectic series of photographs. Maybe we can hook up with you, Sean, while you’re on one of your upcoming adventures?

You, me, and Marilyn in the Sudan! That would make for some interesting photos. Thanks for joining us today!

Photo Of The Day: Sunny Isles

This Photo of the Day is titled “Sunny Isles” and comes from Gadling Flickr pool member Bens640. The scene is of a typical beach in Florida’s North Miami and, looking around the weather map, some of you could use a warm-weather photo to focus on.

I lived in the Midwest for about half a century before relocating to Florida almost a decade ago and saw plenty of ice, snow, stupid people driving during that “first snow” and breath-robbing sub-zero winds.

Similar photos helped.

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as a Photo of the Day.

[Photo Credit: Gadling Flickr pool member Bens640]

The Greatest Photo I Never Took


The Iranians love Ferris wheels. When I spent a month in Iran back in 1994 I saw them everywhere. The parks in the big cities had the big, brightly painted ones we’re familiar with in the West. Smaller towns and villages had more modest Ferris wheels, some small enough that they could be cranked by hand.

I saw dozens of them. The one that stands out most in my memory was in a dusty little roadside village I passed through while riding a bus. The village was nothing more than a few dozen houses lined up on either side of the highway. This was Iran, though, and so it had its own Ferris wheel. It was homemade out of unpainted boards and had four seats that looked like they were old footlockers. An old man was cranking it around and around for the little local boys and girls, who all had big smiles on their faces as they went up, around, down and up again.

While I only saw it for a moment, it remains one of my most vivid memories of Iran. I wish I could show you a photo but I was zipping by in a bus and so I never got the shot. Instead, here’s a photo Tracy Hunter took in India. This Ferris wheel is about the same size.

While we’re on the subject of travel photography, is there a shot you missed that remains stuck in your mind? Tell us about it in the comments section!

Vote for your favorite travel photo in Smithsonian Magazine’s 9th annual photo contest




More than 14,000 photographers from 109 countries entered Smithsonian Magazine’s photo contest this year and now the magazine is asking readers to cast their vote for the Readers’ Choice favorite. From now until March 31, readers can log on to Smithsonian Magazine and choose the best photographs from five categories: Altered Images, Americana, The Natural World, People, and Travel.

We here at Gadling are loving the diversity of photos in the travel category. They range from pastoral images of fishing boats and young monks in Myanmar to colorful urban sprawl in India, weathered calm in Ethiopia to a moment of whimsy in South Africa. The striking photo pictured above shows Segways on tour in Valencia, Spain.

In all, there are 10 photos to vote on each of the five categories. Readers may vote once per day until the deadline on March 31, 2012. The winners will be published in a summer 2012 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

Your travel photo didn’t get selected as a finalist in the Smithsonian Magazine contest? Why not submit it to the Gadling Flickr pool? Your photo may just be our Photo of the Day.

Image by Marcel van Balken/Smithsonian Magazine

Discovering the wonders of Turkey through photos

Turkey is a historical country filled with culture, beauty, and natural wonders. In fact, there are many interesting facts that many people may not know that help add to the enchantment and splendor of the country, like the fact that the world’s oldest known human settlement can be found in Turkey, two of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World were located in Turkey, and the seven churches cited in the Book of Revelation all resided in Turkey. With such a unique past, it’s not surprising that the country holds so many spectacular and amazing sites. Wander inside the Blue Mosque, an enormous complex that was built from 1609-1616, trek through the unworldly Cappadocia region, or check out the ruins in Ephesus, where the Temple of Artemis stands, once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

To explore the wonders of Turkey for yourself through photos, check out the gallery below.

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