The Baldwin Photographic Gallery at MTSU is currently displaying “Evidence of Passing: Vanishing Points along an American Road,” the work of photographer Tom Mallonee, architectural fountain design consultant and California native.
The black and white photographs feature various subjects lining the long stretch of highway Route 66, ranging from historic road signs to abandoned and decaying structures. The photographs depict the notion of a past American culture tinged with relics of abandoned times.
As Mallonee puts it so eloquently, “The cafes, the filling stations, and motor courts have gathered the evidence and stories of all those who have passed.”
The photography project took Mallonee 12 years to complete, beginning in 1992 and ending in 2006. ##:[read more]##
Mallonee admits that the project’s completion took as long as it did because obviously, “it is a long distance road,” spanning over 2,000 miles. He reasons, “I had to make it like my backyard, and I couldn’t do that in one visit. On my first visit I got the notion that I had a responsibility to document these things and wanted to portray them with dignity and respect.”
When photographing along bypassed sections of Route 66, Mallonee says that some subjects were shot numerous times. He traveled the road on many occasions and recalls often discovering things on a trip that he seemed to miss on a previous excursion.
Mallonee does not admit to having a favorite photo in the collection but does provide a photo that seems to give his project’s purpose validation. One of his photos captures a view of Hough’s Market, an old building in Buckhorn, Mo. Sometime after he had taken the photo he remembers driving down the highway looking for the structure he had once photographed.
“I must have spent 30 to 45 minutes looking for it, and then I realized it was gone. Now the photo tells a story of a building that no longer even exists, and that gives me a feeling of renewal.”
According to Tom Jimison, Curator of the Baldwin Gallery, “The images are all shot on traditional 4×5 film, then scanned and printed on a large inkjet printer. His print quality is breathtaking.”
Mallonee also mixes his own inks and developed a printing system that produces exceptionally smooth prints. He founded California-based Owens Valley Imaging that produces black and white ink prints for other artists.
Jimison says, “Mallonee’s sense of space and design are very sharp and the quality of the prints are lush with the qualities of light.”
Mallonee initially started taking amateur photos with an Olympus 35mm SLR camera that he borrowed from a friend in 1977. Then he took what he calls “a great leap in terms of commitment and training,” and bought a 4×5 view camera in 1979.
As he became bored with landscape photos, Mallonee began to challenge himself with more intriguing projects like the Route 66 project that was actually inspired by a guidebook of roads in the Mohave Desert that featured Route 66 on a couple of pages.
“I just thought it would suit me,” mentions Mallonee.
Not only does Jimison contend that the exhibit is well worth seeing, he claims, “The exhibit is absolutely one of the best exhibits we have shown.”
Collectively, the photos seem to stimulate a feeling of nostalgia, offering insight of a time and place that seems so long forgotten with an aesthetic that forces you to not just notice but to truly see.
The exhibit is currently displayed and will be displayed until Dec. 4. Baldwin Photographic Gallery hours are from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, from noon until 4 p.m. on Saturdays and from 6 until 9:45 p.m. on Sundays. The gallery is free to the public and located on the first floor of the McWherter Learning Resources Center at MTSU.
Route 66 was established in 1926 and originally ran from Illinois to California, encompassing 2,448 miles. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was removed from the Highway System in 1985, replaced by the Interstate Highway System.
