The road stretches out ahead, a black ribbon cutting across a late afternoon landscape. Dusk is setting in, a few minutes from now the headlights will go on.

You’re lost, somewhere in America. Elvis on the radio, destination… nowhere in particular.

Welcome to the after-dark world of the abandoned roadside diner.

***

America can be a weird place, and nowhere does its weirdness crackle and resonate more than out on its endless network of highways. Out here the line between real and surreal can easily blur, mile after mile, rendering unexpected shapes out of the shimmering heat haze. Grotesque and beautiful reminders of bygone years swim out of the dying light, while you slide on by, heading towards the very near future.

A few years ago I had a brief glimpse of this otherworld that only really exists between places in America. It was a haunting experiece; one that left me thinking that there would be worse ways to spend the rest of your days than travelling the highways, documenting the things that remain of the people who were there before, and who have now gone elsewhere.

Of course, as with many cool ideas, others have done it before, and their testimony is almost as provocative as the real thing…

Murray @ Midnight