A New Route: Waypoint Funk

Let me start here by defining that most of my life I’ve looked in the small corners of the world for inspiration. It started in my hometown of Central Point, Oregon where as a child it wasn’t yet abundantly clear to me that there were bigger cities, grandiose stimulation, a life beyond per se. Life was simple and yet I craved this desire to be seen and to show what I found beautiful. I can remember the first time that I picked up a camera and invited my friends to stand in front of it. We cowered under barbwire and trudged through overgrown weeds to get to this abandoned concrete dam which was accessorized by colorful graffiti. It was my first go at bossing around my friends and explaining the ways I wanted them to show up in front of the camera. During that editing session, I felt insanely powerful and that ignited this itch to create more over the course of the next 12 years.

Beyond that moment when I was 16 years old, I have found through all of my forms of expression, my favorite way to experience the world is behind a steering wheel and my 35mm film camera. I’ve learned that a tumbleweed trailing a desert highway or a turkey vulture chowing down on road kill makes my brain tingle. That a red cliffside casting shadows during sunrise would be burned into my memory nearly 6 years later. My desire to see the US through vintage neon signs has become a necessity for a full life.

From this inclination of wanting to share beauty in the mundane, I decided to birth my next photo project: WAYPOINT FUNK. Turn a wandering eye toward my instagram @waypointfunk to tour America’s best roadside attractions, signs, stays, ghost towns, antique stores and more. And don’t worry, I pair my film photos with the exact locations and a bit of history so that you can follow course.

See you over there!

-Maddi