Arts & Culture

Detroit photographer’s National Geographic project captures U.S. roadside attractions

WKAR Public Media | By Scott Pohl

Published August 23, 2016 at 12:27 PM EDT

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Marissa Gawel's roadside attractions project includes this image of an enormous ball of paint. In 1977, Mike Carmichael’s three-year-old son added the first coat of paint to a baseball. Thousands of people have stopped by to add 24,000 layers of paint.";

Marissa Gawel

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Bamahenge isn’t the only replica Stonehenge in America, but it’s the first one made out of fiberglass. The roadside attraction is almost identical in size to its English inspiration and aligns with the summer solstice.";s:

Marissa Gawel

Olayami Dabls' MBAD African Bead Museum photo

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Olayami Dabls' MBAD African Bead Museum is part bead gallery, part outdoor art installation. Dabls' environment is designed to share African heritage and storytelling in Detroit, MI.

Marissa Gawel

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Dean Lewis’ Old Car City boasts about 4,000 junk cars spread out over 32-acres of forest in White, GA. Evidence of Lewis’s former business, a general store, is scattered around some of the ancient automobiles on the property.";s:

Marissa Gawel

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By day, Dr. Ted Waflart practices occupational medicine. By night, he repairs mechanical music machines like Wurlitzer organs and player pianos to display in his museum, Dr. Ted’s Musical Marvels, in Dale, IN.";

Marissa Gawel

Marissa Gawel is a young Detroit-based photographer whose latest effort is a National Geographic magazine project to document roadside attractions. She talks with Current State’s Scott Pohl about her work.

For a photographer, there might not be a higher ambition than to work with National Geographic. For more than a century, the magazine has thrived, in no small part, due to the beauty of its photography.

National Geographic issues Young Explorers Grants to encourage emerging artists and their creative new ideas.

The August issue of the magazine features grantee Marissa Gawel of Detroit. She speaks with Current State's Scott Pohl about her project.