Man standing outside. Unknown date.

 

Woman standing outside. Unknown date. 

Polka dot shorts. Unknown date.

 

A man and a very tall cactus. Unknown date.

The Great Unreal

“Off into the wind, and the great-wide-open-never-ever-end beckons… so off you go and it gusts into your ear and it whispers, “have no fear”. Up a path you trot… you are pulled backwards as the dust lights your way and you follow the pull of the dust like a shining beacon into the rear view mirror of your head.

And the blazing sun burns on your cheeks and your smile shines… and you turn and look around at the glorious sound. The colors bounce off the wires in a sizzling symphony… oh, yes, and the earth hears it and sings right along. Hmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmmmmm… bzzzzz, bzzzzz, bzzzzz…

And you float on up into a faded blue sky like a leaf that is connected to a branch that is connected to the arm of a towering giant who holds you high, high above his head. Look at those houses way down below on the rubber tire map but then whoooosh, down we go as the sky cracks! We shooooosh down on the color and the sound… and we land, oh so grand! Pop, pop, pop and we skip and then we hop… we go, down another path baby and another and another… off we go into the vast landscape of the connected-flow.

“The Great Unreal” beckons.

‘Cause them UFO’s are a callin’, them trailer parks and them empty malls… the sun splots and the red dots and the bluebird flies and electric-metal-highs. Them drive ins and them NUCLEAR bomb cadillac fins! Blast my face with stale beer and mace - get me movin’ cause I gotta keep on groove-in! Shotgun shells and them “Gawd Damn Hells!” and antlers and trucks and freight trains and ducks and shootin’ range traps and “Holy F-K’s” and claps!

Now lay back and sleep, into the motel we creep… into the bed and get some zzzzzzz’s into my head… sleep some sheeps right into my caves, dream of canyons and “the glowing light” and voices singin’ “JESUS SAVES”.

And dream of that empty road off into the open forever… there ain’t no end now ain’t there?

Now we’re up in the sky on a BIG MAC high, smell them’ trees and look at them American Mountains - Grand-Stand-American-Band-Coca-Cola TALL! We are rushin’ down on an upside-down-frown, past the DINOSAUR town, past that WHITE POWER sound! past the JUMBO MORTGAGE clown! through the DRIVE-THROUGH-DRUG hug!

Follow me out there baby into “THE GREAT UNREAL”.

 

 

Taken from The Great Unreal. The text is a perfect accompaniment to the visual narrative of inconspicuously but obtrusively altered photographs that make up the book. See more images and a great write up on American Suburb X.

 

Dashing man feeding a dog a treat. Printed at Smith & Butterfield Camera Shop. July 27, 1949.

 

Two young girls in front of the porch. Porterville, California. Unknown date.

 

White puppy, from a series. Found in Austin, Tx. Unknown date. 

 

House alterations in blue pen, unknown date.

 

"Louise." Unknown date.

"This is mother & Ruth." Unknown date.

 

Playing with an airplane. Unknown date.

 

Outdoor still life. Unknown date.

Girl's Opera, Japan. 1947.

Some bathing beauties. Song Beach, California. Unknown date.

Children on a pile of dirt or sawdust. Unknown date.

Dog begging for a treat, unknown date.

Apple tree portrait, 1932.

"Wilfur & Russil"

"Old Faithful"

birth of an archive

I am so pleased to be creating this archive at last - it is the perfect place to share the continuously growing collection of vintage photographs I have been finding and collecting for some time. The appeal of each image undeniably comes from the mystery and candor that personal photography tends to arouse, along with the aesthetic vernacular of a time so different from the present. The documentation of the daily mundane in the "society of the spectacle"1 is not only interesting but also endearing.

Aside from my own collection, the growth of this archive will also (hopefully) be contributed to by others. Therefore anyone interesting in contributing to the archive can do so by contacting me here!

1. Guy Debord

Shirtless man in woods. Unknown date.

The "Ole Swimmin' Hole" along the river by the Hotel. July1947.