The Frontier Drive-In located in Center, Colo. (Credit: Craig Deman)

Santa Monica, Calif.-based photographer Craig Deman captures eerie yet stunning photos of deteriorating drive-in movie theaters that have been fashioned by the effects of weather over time in his photo series, “The Drive-In Project.”

“Decades of heat, wind and rain ‘organically stylized’ the remnants of screens, ticket booths and projection booths in a distressed manner,” explained Deman in an interview with Weather.com. “Capturing the effects of these atmospheric conditions on various structures combined with big, cloud filled skies significantly contributes to feelings and/or memories someone may have when viewing this work.”

Deman began the project after he was researching locations for his Los Angeles series and discovered there were no drive-in movie theaters located locally. He yearned for the “wonderful pre-mid century architecture” and “cool neon displays on marquees,” so he went on a hunt across the country.

The photographer shot over four years and in 10 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Shooting in early morning and late afternoons to capture the “most dramatic light” required persistence, he described.

“Being patient and waiting for the right light at each location (even if it entailed sleeping in the car) became more important in some circumstances than just chasing the ‘magic hour’ light with a project that covered tens of thousands of miles.”

Patience was a virtue that he also needed when it came to gaining access to drive-ins that where located on private property. Accessing the theater in Smokey Mountain, Tenn. proved to be particularly challenging for Deman, who had to contact code enforcement officers, chamber of commerce employees, police officers and others just to get the name and contact information of the owner.

To see how his perseverance paid off check out the photos above. For more of Deman’s photography visit his website “Deman Imagery.”

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