Philip Scholz: Shipyard Nocturnes / Marshall Williams: Taco Stand Vernacular

Marshall Williams: Taco Stand Vernacular

"I set out to make photographs of the roadside taco stand, a ubiquitous fixture—commonplace in the context of the Southern California Landscape. What I discovered was an opportunity for a closer inspection of these structures, one in which we can delight in the details. As a photographer, I am intrigued by the transitional moment between day and night. In daylight, these small structures are swallowed by their surroundings, but in the early evening they are cloaked in a subdued ambiance, emitting their own light, exuding a sort of theatrical like presence.”

It is here we begin to see they are not common at all but complex and expressive, rich in personality, utterly unique— they are vibrant portraits of ourselves."

Philipp Scholz Rittermann: Shipyard Nocturnes

"In 1985 I gained access to the NASSCO shipyard in San Diego for about a year and a half. Located south of the Coronado Bridge, the industrial bustle and night time glow of the place was irresistible. Two major shipbuilding projects underway at the time were the hospital ship Mercy, and the soon to be infamous Exxon Valdez.

Standing inside the (single-walled) hull of the Exxon Valdez I asked a passing engineer where the oil would be put. He answered “You’re looking at it.”

Three years after it was launched, the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound in Alaska, causing the then-largest crude oil spill in US waters, (over 11 million gallons, killing hundreds of thousands birds, mammals, and fish), giving rise to the landmark Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and mandating double-hulled tankers in US waters by 2015.

While the images haven’t changed since I made them, the way I feel about them has."