26 Gasoline Stations

Roughly 50 years on, Iñaki Bergera’s photographs are skilful examples of the topographical tradition originally inspired by Ed Ruscha to objectively describe territorial signs.

Iñaki Bergera, <i>Twenty Six Gasoline Stations</i>

The recent exhibition “Twenty Six (Abandoned) Gasoline Stations” at the Carolina Rojo gallery in Zaragoza, a part of the substantial 18th “Photo España” programme, presented a photographic and editorial project entitled Twenty Six Gasoline Stations. The work by photographer and architect Iñaki Bergera explicitly references that produced by American conceptual artist Edward Ruscha in 1963.

Roughly 50 years on, Bergera adopts this citation as a pretext for a more global reflection on changes to the iconic American West landscape, triggered by the construction of new roads that have radically revolutionised the road network and by major changes to fuel selling imposed by multinationals in the early 1990s.

Bergera’s photographs are skilful examples of the topographical tradition originally inspired by Ruscha himself to objectively describe territorial signs. The visual experience develops via an “on the road” journey through the wild US southwest and the 26 abandoned service stations are attractions along the way. What surprises visitors/observers of these images is that the colour register adopted recreates a new imagery of these places. The photographs feature diffused light beneath a cloudy sky that lessens the strong stereotypical contrasts of these locations. By making such a linguistic choice, the photographer projects these architectural features into an uncertain timeframe, offering food for thought on the transience of everyday life.