Out of season

the long version

Wildwood is a small barrier island at the tip of southern New Jersey. Through a combination of economics, geography, and chance, it contains a national treasure: the highest concentration of mid-twentieth-century modern hospitality architecture in the United States. The short three-month tourist season, combined with a working-class aesthetic, resulted in Wildwood's motels remaining essentially frozen in time for over four decades. In recent years, however, more than half have been demolished and the future of those that remain is in doubt. The images in this book are the result of a ten-year project by Mark Havens to capture the essence of these vanishing treasures. A number of the ?motels were photographed at the end of their last season, just prior to demolition; in fact they were disappearing so fast that at times Havens was shooting the front of a motel while workers were demolishing the back. Though the lights were still on and the pools still full, there would be no more guests, no more summers. The images are accompanied by essays from Joseph Giovanni and Jamer Hunt.