America’s Hometown Movie Theaters: Please Remain Standing

Description

This visual feast is for anyone who loves going to the movie theater to watch the latest release or a classic revival. The thick volume features more than 500 American movie theaters and drive-ins taken by documentary photographer Benita VanWinkle as part of on-going project that began more than forty years ago when VanWinkle’s hometown movie theater was demolished to make room for a parking lot. Since then, she has crisscrossed the nation in an effort to preserve what was once a beloved American past-time.

A stunning and hefty tome that documents the full range of the once-ubiquitous American movie “palace.”

Since 1982, documentary photographer Benita VanWinkle has crisscrossed the country making photographs of any drive in and movie theater in her path. This publication features a mere fraction of the results of her efforts, but the selection of photographs represents theaters in all fifty states in the U.S.A. and the District of Columbia. While the book contains many images of splendid Art Deco confections and intoxicating neon signs that still draw in customers, VanWinkle is equally taken with the less opulent theaters in struggling towns. Over the more than forty years documenting these structures, she marveled at how these movie theaters still hold an important place in the hearts of most communities. Astonished at the number of buildings that still screen movies, she also discovered the wide range of supplemental and alternative functions that have been adopted to ensure the survival of the town’s movie theater—from church to Masonic Temple meetings, and live theaters to dance classes.

VanWinkle’s photographs will make anyone over twenty nostalgic for the days when the whole community went to the movies on a Friday night or spent a rainy Saturday at the matinee—the days, not too long ago, when going to the movies was one of America’s favorite past-times, not to mention affordable.

About the Author
Currently an Associate Professor of Art at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina, Benita VanWinkle worked as a professional photojournalist for several years before obtaining her MFA in photography at Southern Illinois University. Her most ambitious portfolio, “Please Remain Standing,” which started in 1982, has resulted in the documentation of almost 1,000 movie theaters to date. Other photography portfolios include “Old Glory,” with depictions of the American flag throughout her travels, and “The View from Here,” with observations of everyday life. Her website Busybstudio.com also showcases her love of bookbinding and stitchery.