ROYS DESIGN

ROUTE 66 TYPOGRAPHY

Part of an ongoing body of photographic work depicting typographic images on the historic Route 66 Highway; this series was shot in Weatherford, OK in July 2007. The photographic compositions incorporate modern and historic images, with contemporary graffiti juxtaposed next to worn, disintegrating parking signs.

This iconic Chicago-to-Los Angeles highway was first constructed in 1926, and was intended to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course. John Steinbeck proclaimed U.S. Highway 66 the “Mother Road” when he wrote his famous 1939 novel “The Grapes of Wrath”. By 1970, nearly all segments of the original highway were bypassed by modern four-lane highways. In October 1984 the final section of original road was bypassed by Interstate 40 at Williams, Arizona.

From an artistic standpoint, the road offers an archaeological goldmine of both contemporary and historic typographic images, representing every segment of the American social and historical experience since 1929. Often overlooked, these everyday images become interesting when the individual elements and compositions of the objects are studied, eliminating functions from their reality. They are more a study of the elements of lines/shapes/spaces than image photos. Although surrounded by these forms, they are rarely observed or considered as aesthetic elements in the environment; in most everyday situations, individuals are oblivious to their existence.

The subjects have been cropped and assembled on the computer using Adobe Photoshop. All images in series are color digital photos, shot with a Pentax A20.