BY: DANIEL WATERBORNE
The nomads of today are less drawn to the freedom of the Great Plains and more to the freedom of gold sand and saltwater. They live by a realization: the van-life is not some commitment to work-shy existence. The van-life is a right of passage. In the potholes of winding asphalt innumerable musicians, artists and shoestring travellers have had their spirits tested. They are tested by the dime-scraping of minimalism. They are tested by battles that arise from too many people living in too small a space. They are tested by bylaw officers and meter maids. This is why Joe Stevens, an LA filmmaker and photographer set out to capture the unflinching self-determination of van-nomads before they retreat into history. His photo project, Vans and The Places They Were, began in 1996 and “examines the dialogue which exists between a van’s design aesthetic and that of its surrounding environment.”
There is a subculture indigenous to the Southern California sun. While the nomads of generations past may have taken to the backs of horses and found shelter under canvas tents, the nomads of today take to rusty vans and mattresses with the blended smell of mildew and patchouli. Stevens has been documenting this endangered culture exclusively on 120 mm film. His reasoning is simple:
“Over the course of the project the vans themselves have become more and more of a rarity. The reasons are as simple as rust and changing tastes, and as complex as government initiatives encouraging more fuel-efficient transportation. Notably, at the same time these vans have been disappearing from our roads – film photography as a visual medium has also begun its slow death.”
So far the project has gathered hundreds of photos of vans that have sat alongside the sidewalks of nearly every corner of the Golden South. Each photograph tells of a different life, stories like grains of sand encrusted between the treads of each van’s tires. Stevens’ aesthetic is as beautiful as his vision. He writes, “Consequently the goal of the project is to one day shoot the last remaining van on the final frame of photographic film in existence. Then the project will be finished.”
White Tradesman With Stripes, Burlingame, CA -Winter 1996
VanDura With Tan Stripes- Deming, NM -Winter 2009
The Mariona Bayview, San Francisco- Spring 2004
White Dodge with Red Wheel, Downtown Los Angeles -Fall 2007
Blue Chevy With Stripe, West LA -Fall 2003
Welcome Longs Customers, Culver City -Winter 2004
Gypsy, Downtown Los Angeles -Fall 2007
Orange Tradesman with Stripes, Venice Beach- Spring 2007
Econoline with Airbrushed mural, Castro district, San Fransisco -Summer 1997
Image sources: cargocollective.com