Alden Wallace



‘Room No. 9′

Motels have earned their place in American folklore. They appear in movies, books, and songs as sanctuaries— sanctuary to the criminal on the run or to star-crossed lovers unable to be together outside the rented walls. The motel room is depicted as a purgatory for those suspended between places and its mythos has captured society’s collective imagination. Perhaps what makes motels so alluring is the amount of anonymity they offer. Gone are the lobby crowds of hotels and nosy bed and breakfast hosts; no one sees when you come or go. Each year millions of Americans leave their homes, for leisure or business, and stay in the relative obscurity of motels. For some, the motel room becomes a home away from home, for others, a welcome departure from their lives. And what separates the vacationers from the criminals, the businessmen from the lovers? One thin wall.

Room no. 9 is a collection of photographs that peeks into the rundown, family owned Motels of the 1950’s still dotting the American landscape. While they were once the well-respected, beautiful places that vacationers visited while trekking across the country in sedans and station wagons, today they have fallen into obscurity and become a refuge for truckers, day laborers, and addicts.

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Please click the photos below to read their stories.

Credits
Alden Wallace – Photography & Conceptualization
Linda Immediato – Conceptualization & Editing

Special Thanks
Lisa Simek, Kiki Wallace, David Simek, Erik Jutras, Mary Beers, The Blake Family, Nina Fagiola, Molly Crow The Burrows Family, Tom & Ruth Sterns, Andrew Gondelman and everyone else that was kind enough to extend their residence to me while I traveled cross country.