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Ryann Ford

Outside profile

Photographer's website. 

Published

When photographer Ryann Ford moved to Texas in 2007, she began driving across the state, accepting photography assignments in every corner. Ford would take the quickest, main highways on her way there and look for the more scenic routes on the way back. This is where she found remnants of America’s beautiful and often crumbling rest stops. Due to the recession of the late 2000s, many of these great pieces of Americana were destroyed or left to decay. Ford made it her mission to capture as many as she could before they were gone. Her latest book, The Last Stop, is a stunning collection of charismatic rest stops across the country. Here, Ford shares some of her favorites and a few stories from the road. Photo: lower Mound, Texas, I-35. This was the rest stop that inspired the project. As I researched rest stops to see what was beyond the Austin area, I was excited to find a photo of this one, and then shocked to read it would soon be demolished. The next weekend, I drove four hours north to shoot it. Sure enough, it was demolished a few weeks later. 
Destinations

A Photographer’s Mission to Capture America’s Great Rest Stops

When photographer Ryann Ford moved to Texas in 2007, she began driving across the state, accepting photography assignments in every corner. Ford would take the quickest, main highways on her way there and look for the more scenic routes on the way back.

Published: