"The American road in all its recalcitrant splendour: large cars, large signs, large spaces, large dreams and promises of freedom now abandoned. Leah Frances catalogues this suspended mythology; a departure point for dark and dreamy stories." — Double Decker UK
SHANGRI-LA (2018)
A grid of rumination on the dream of the American car recorded with a prototype of the new Diana Instant Square, Lomography’s twist on the early 1960s plastic-bodied toy camera imported to the USA by the Power Sales Company of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Across three days in October, 2018, I attempted to photograph cars and signage of a similar period to the time of the Diana's popular use .
Now that you've found your paradise / This is your kingdom to command / You can go outside and polish your car / Or sit by the fire in your Shangri-la
Here's your reward for working so hard / Gone are the lavatories in the back yard / Gone are the days when you dreamed of that car / You just want to sit in your Shangri-la
Put on your slippers and sit by the fire / You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher / You're in your place and you know where you are / In your Shangri-la — Raymond Douglas Davies