Vans and the Places Where They Were
Alexa Fornoff
Black Tradesman with Orange Stripe; Potrero Hill, San Francisco; Fall, 1997
Filmmaker and photographer Joe Stevens began shooting conversion vans in their natural habitat in 1996, and now has hundreds of images of the vehicles from around the Los Angeles area. These sunwashed shots combine for the scrolling photo essay Vans and the Places Where They Were, and provide a much-needed jolt of summertime in this dreary February. Below, Stevens describes the project:Over the course of the project the vans themselves have become more and more of a rarity. The reasons are as simple as rust and changing tastes; and as complex as government “cash for clunkers” initiatives encouraging more fuel-efficient transportation. Notably, at the same time these vans have been disappearing from our roads – film photography as a visual medium has also begun it’s slow death. Consequently the goal of the project is to one day shoot the last remaining van on the final frame of photographic film in existence. Then the project will be finished.(via Cool Hunting, image via Vans and the Places Where They Were)
