Beachfront Motels
Flamingo Motel - 31st Street | Ocean City, Maryland 2016
Happened to come across a fantastic article, The Lonely Grandeur of Beachfront Motels, about photographer Mark Havens who has spent the past decade photographing old motels along the New Jersey shore.
He realized that the hamlet’s mid-century motels could disappear without much notice, giving way to a rubble-strewn lot or retooled as unrecognizable condos, clad in vinyl siding and a shingled roof. So Havens spent a decade crafting a photographic eulogy for the beach town’s mid-century structures—often, two squat floors arranged in an L-shape and hiked up on stilts. More than 100 of those images have been compiled into a book, Out of Season: The Vanishing Architecture of the Wildwoods
This reminded me of one of my favorite things about taking photographs in Ocean City - the fantastic throwback hotels and buildings that are still quite prevalent. I decided to compile some of my favorites here.
Quick side note: While verifying the locations and names of the motels, I discovered that the Spindrift Motel has been renovated and painted more subtle, muted colors. So glad that I was able to capture it in its full orange glory!
