Gasoline

Gasoline by David Campany. First edition (2013). First impression. Large format paperback in new condition. Flat signed by David Campany to title page. No markings. This is a brand new book. Please see pictures. PayPal accepted, any questions please get in touch.

About Gasoline

So, the gas station is one of the most iconic twentieth century buildings. Recognised across the world. It is arguably most established building on American soil. Where the notion of the road trip on a full tank of gas is culturally ingrained. Gasoline presents 35 archive press images of gas stations taken between 1944 and 1995. They have been collected by writer David Campany. Purchased from the photography archives of several American newspapers. Which have been discarding their analogue print collections and then moving to the now ubiquitous .jpeg or .tif formats.

Gasoline can be read as a cautionary tale about the modern dependence on oil. Also about news photography. About the shift from film to digital imaging. Or as a minor history of car design and vernacular architecture. Marked with the grease pen notations of the newspapers’ art directors, the photos tell of oil shortages, road congestion, crimes, accidents as well as choking cities. Individually the images are single moments in time; but collectively they show a growing consciousness about cars, the oil trade and global concern about pollution.