Icons of the Highway: A Celebration of Small-Town America

Tony and Eva Worobiec once again take to the road to create a beautiful photographic essay about an America that’s fast fading away.
Often when we think of the United States, we remember the things that once set it apart visually: the flamboyant oversized cars, ubiquitous diners, bright neon lighting, large city hotels that figured so prominently in Hopper paintings, and the once-uniquely American motel. Sadly, these are now in steady decline. In this collection of outstanding images, the Worobiecs capture the magic that remains, on journeys ranging from the far north—the High Line at the Canadian border—across the high plains to the desert towns of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The casinos, remnants of movie palaces, burger shacks, and roadside sculptures all evoke a once-glorious past.

Tony and Eva Worobiec once again take to the road to create a beautiful photographic essay about an America that’s fast fading away.
Often when we think of the United States, we remember the things that once set it apart visually: the flamboyant oversized cars, ubiquitous diners, bright neon lighting, large city hotels that figured so prominently in Hopper paintings, and the once-uniquely American motel. Sadly, these are now in steady decline. In this collection of outstanding images, the Worobiecs capture the magic that remains, on journeys ranging from the far north—the High Line at the Canadian border—across the high plains to the desert towns of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The casinos, remnants of movie palaces, burger shacks, and roadside sculptures all evoke a once-glorious past.

Ronald S. Russ - Library Journal

British photographers Eva and Tony Worobiec follow up their previous Ghosts in the Wilderness: Abandoned America by traveling the highways, a long-standing American pastime, and photographing old movie theaters, diners, automobiles, and motels along the way. The narrative describes the different locations they visited, ranging from New Mexico and Kansas to Texas and Montana. Part of the Worobiecs' contention is that many of these structures are fading from the landscape, being replaced with cookie-cutter fast-food eateries, chain motels, and multiplex movie theaters. According to the authors, most of the photographs were taken at dawn or dusk to accentuate neon lighting. The technical data for each photo is listed in the back of the book. While this volume does illustrate the photographers' points regarding the vanishing landscape of these older structures, it is almost too homogeneous in nature; after a while, one diner looks a lot like another. Recommended with reservations for public libraries.