Wim Wenders, Lounge Painting # 1, Gila Bend, Arizona
from "Pictures from the Surface of the Earth"
"It took me hours to find somebody
who could open up the lobby
of the old "Stout's" hotel on Main Street in Gila Bend.
It had been closed for years already.
That painting over the Coke machine haunts me ever since.
It's the dream version
of the perfect beginning
of a road movie."
As if Wim Wenders' movies weren't achingly beautiful enough, it turns out he takes great photographs too. The German director carries a panoramic camera around with him as he scouts for film locations and selected prints have been collected together in Pictures from the Surface of the Earth.
There's everything from Buddhist temples to Havana cadillacs, but he really comes to life in the US. If you've seen Paris, Texas, you'll know Wenders has a keen eye for recreating a sort of lost, mythic Americana. The photographs he took across the Southern states zoom in on individual aspects of this, picking out vintage drinks machines and deserted shop fronts like some 35mm Edward Hopper. Ok, it's not strictly mid-20th century, but it sure as hell looks like it.
Turns out the week I picked up this book, he opens a photography exhibition at Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Once - Still Images of Moving Pictures opens tomorrow and runs until 13 April, featuring his film location shots from around the globe.
Wim Wenders, Used Book Store In Butte, Montana
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