ArtFire

The fresh and youthlike sunset sky is a sharp contrast to the clear signs of abandonment suffered by Oklahoma's 66 West Twin Drive-In theatre in this 9x12 documentary art photo. The ticket booth, the focus of the art photo, has had all of its windows broken, with just a few shards remaining in the frames. Wires hang loosely across the front, though somehow, two yellow light bulbs remain intact on the Route 66 side of the dilapidated booth. Grass and weeds that scratched at my legs as I walked about and photographed the abandoned drive-in grows two feet high around the booth, as if trying to shelter it from shame and comfort the theatre in its neglected state.

Yet behind the abandoned booth, the sky blooms in sprightly shades of lilac, blue, and silver-fresh, lovely, and young compared to the scarred and weatherbeaten ticket booth.

A faded sign on the front of the now-quiet and deserted ticket booth bears a thank you to the local and national companies that had helped the West Twin re-open for business to great fanfare (and a packed theatre!) in 1999. Making the faded acknowledgement part of the centerpiece of this art photo, I couldn't help but wonder how the old drive-in could have undergone what was clearly a well-supported revival and then demise in less than a decade.

Closed in 2005 or 2007 (the facts are a bit unclear), the 66 West Twin suffered its final indignity when it was razed in November of 2011, just a few months after I took this and several other photographs of the old drive-in.

Just a few steps to the west, a megaplex stands.

This 9x12 documentary art photo of the 66 West Twin would a lovely addition to one's home, office, or business, especially for those fans of vintage Americana, drive-in movie theatres, or those longing for a bit of nostalgia. Professionally printed on archival-quality 9x12 photograph paper, this documentary art photo from great old Route 66 has a white border for easy framing and to protect the image itself. I sign, date, and number each limited-edition art photo on back prior to mailing it.

Sitting beside the Mother Road, old Route 66, the West Twin Drive-In originally opened in 1967 with two big screens and as the 40 West Drive-In. Boasting a 346-car capacity, the drive-in was eventually named the 66 West Twin after the more famous old US Highway just outside its gates.

Despite doing some research to try and figure out why the drive-in closed, how so many wonderful people got together to revive it, and how it closed again, little information could be found; it will remain a mystery until I can learn more. It seems more important to me than before, having recently learned that the old drive-in was razed in late 2011. So often I photograph places, only to learn that they are now gone! It is because little pieces of our cultural history are being taken away every day that I am a documentary photographer-through photographs, we can all remember these places and share them with those we love and know.

digital, canon, camera, Kodak Endura photo paper

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