[.ca] Lost America: The Abandoned Roadside West (ISBN 076031490X)

Round about midnight.:
As you would expected the mechanical detritus of America is a bit of a magnet for photographers. Who can pass up taking shots of abandoned vehicles, filling stations and other commercial buildings that seem to be scattered along the tarmac of the Nation, especially if they are surrounded by an empty landscape. Not Troy Paiva for sure but he takes the idea a step further by capturing all this stuff after dark and he does a super job. Not content with taking these photos at night he adds a neat touch by using different colored lights to illuminate the scene. So now the ordinary abandoned filling station becomes the extraordinary abandoned station with red walls, green and purple canopies against a dark blue sky (Ludlow on Route 66, page forty-seven) or part of a pick-up truck with a magenta cab leaning against a junked interstate highway sign (Sacramento, page 110) The four chapters in the book are full of these intriguing photos. The best ones, I think, are in Salvage where you can see some knockout images of old jet planes, slowly being cut up for scrap. As well as great photos, Troy Paiva writes interesting captions to all the photos, rather unusual for a photo book, so many photographers seem to think that just the name of the location and the year is all that is required. He also contributes four worthwhile essays to each chapter filling out the historical detail of what is now discarded. So why *** stars? It's because the books production really does not do justice to these photos. The publisher mostly produce transport books not art books and the layout would be fine if it was dealing with trains, for instance, where the photos and artwork would come from a variety of sources. I feel 'Lost America' deserves a more formal treatment, with each page having one centered image and caption and the text not mixed up with the photos. Also in this book there is far too much white space (click on the book cover at the top of the page to see some inside pages) none of the photos are whole page or on black pages for a change of pace. If Paiva carries on taking his night shots perhaps another publisher will produce a book that shows of his work to better effect. BTW you can see all these photos (on a handsome black screen) and more on Troy's website, just put his name into the Google panel, top left. Here's a bit of advice though, don't click on his LINKS unless you have a few hours to spare, it is the most awesome list of visual Americana sites you'll find anywhere. All free too!

This is an Adventure!:
I have watched this book take shape over the past several years, slowly gathering momentum as more and more people began to appreciate Troy's vision. But even having seen the photographs and having read the drafts of the manuscript did not prepare me for how stunning the completed work looks and feels. Troy drives down the deserted byways of the West to show us a world that many of us once knew intimately before freeways and technology bypassed it. This is an America, often less than fifty years old, that is disappearing before our eyes. Troy reminds us that it is not just the drive-in theaters and restaurants, not just the gas stations and motels that we have abandoned, but a whole way of life as well. Lost America is more than a collection of striking photographs and engaging narrative. It is an adventure. Troy grabs you by the hand and drags you out to stand under the vast canopy of the desert sky to experience this world as it is today, even as whispers from yesterday linger in the air. This book appeals to our feelings, not our intellect. Each reader is welcome to bring the richness of his or her own life to enhance the experience of Lost America. Although Troy has acknowledged the contributions of the people who have helped shape Lost America, I would like to add a footnote. Troy's mother, Kali, was on the spiritual path before Troy was born. Troy grew up in a home filled with spiritual masters, seekers, and the most wonderful energy. He may not always have appreciated it, but a child could not have asked for more. Kali has always encouraged Troy to follow his heart, to give life to his dreams, to trust creativity and allow it to go where it will. And the creativity that touches everything that Troy does fills this book to the overflowing.

Haunting, Riveting Images of Abandoned Popular Culture.:
After years of admiring Troy Paiva's photography on his website, I was thrilled to find that a collection of his unique images is finally available in print. For those unfamiliar with Paiva's work, he takes color pictures of long-abandoned buildings and machines at night, under moonlight, and provides additional illumination with splashes of brightly colored flash. If that sounds gaudy or just plain odd, it probably is. And although I'm normally a fan of subdued colors and black-and-white photography, Troy Paiva's work has always captivated me. A lot of photographers take pictures of decay. And taken under sunlight by any other photographer, that's what these images would look like. But decay is only part of the story. Troy Paiva had a stroke of genius when he determined that darkness and garish color would turn his images of junk into vital accounts of American technologies and ideas whose life cycle has been spent. His lighting techniques make the structures seem haunted. Not by ghosts, but by cultures long departed. Ugly things are made eerily riveting, if not actually beautiful. "Lost America" contains five sections: "Where the Lanes Are Wide" (photographs of abandoned Miracle Mile towns), "Drive In, Drive Out" (you guessed it, drive-in movie theaters), "The Last Resort" (The Salton Sea), and "Salvage" (machines with one foot in the grave). Troy Paiva introduces each section with an excellent essay detailing the history of the subject and its demise. The essays are fluid and informative. Mr. Paiva turns out to be one of those photographers who writes the text for his photographs better than anyone else could. There are about 90 5"x7 1/2" color photographs in this book, all with explanatory captions, and some smaller black-and-white photographs as well. I have really enjoyed looking at these images over and over again. My only misgiving about the book is that I wish it were hardcover and perhaps a little larger. Nevertheless, no fan or practitioner of photography should be without Troy Paiva's haunting historic images. Aficionados of 20th Century popular culture may also find "Lost America" valuable for its graphic representation of how cultures and their icons came and then passed into oblivion. Highly recommended.

Best night photos make the best books!:
What a refreshing look at Americas past though the eyes of a great photographer.

A Great Read, A Stunning, Eye-Opening Look:
Here's an amazing accomplishment, an artistic method that's new & unique & innovative yet \oisn't bad\c, along with several thousand words showing that the guy can shoot AND write. Who'd've thunk it? Well, maybe me, since I've seen evidence of both for awhile, but so what: the insides of this book jump off the page at you. You show me anything that entertains me even a fraction of what this here book's been doing for me lately & I'll buy you a zima. I trust you realize neither of those are gonna happen. This author is one of those people who finds fascination in decay, and he's found a way to channel that fascination & bring it to yr coffee table. And what's great here is that it's hard to say whether it's his technique, his subjects, or his words that are most striking. Can you imagine a more interesting road trip with anyone else? I just wish he could lug his gear out east to a place called Coney Island one of these days.