Pioneers of the Palm Springs tiny home movement, embracing the less is best concept, are the focus of Los Angeles photographer Nancy Baron’s highly anticipated new exhibition Beautiful Trailer Town. Opening tomorrow at SPOT Photo Works, Baron’s astute look at the resort town’s mobile home parks brings new life to the notion of “dream homes.”
Following the success of her first book The Good Life > Palm Springs, published by Kehrer Verlag, Nancy Baron has continued to pursue her photographic look at her adopted desert community: “Some years ago I was involved in a group project to document the economic downturn in Southern California. I was assigned the Palm Springs area, where I have a second home. I was relatively new to Palm Springs at the time, so my forced meanderings were a great way to discover my town. I was surprised to find a wide range of lifestyle choices in such a small town. Whether in exclusive enclaves or mobile home parks, residents were taking advantage of the desert magic. The charm of the mobile home parks, in particular, pulled me in – encouraging me to look closer. Residents were surprisingly friendly to a stranger walking around with a camera. I felt at home.”
Although the parks have themes, residents are given a wide berth for personal expression in their own homes, encouraging a diverse community that defies stereotype. Pride of ownership can be had at a cost far less than a condo, with no neighbors above or below. If yearning for a change of scenery, mobile home dwellers are always free to hitch up and move – yet their homes often appear to be firmly planted, with landscaping, hardscaping, and even additions. With no historic overlay preservation codes to hamper them, creativity abounds. Extra fancy or plain and simple, there are no two homes alike.”
EXHIBITION
Beautiful Trailer Town
Nancy Baron
From January 16 to March 11, 2016
Spot Photo Works
6679 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
USA
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm
spotphotogallery.com
spotphotoworkslosangeles.wordpress.com
