Motel Bizarre is a one way trip through the neon highway world of Stephanie Crabe. She commands a tour of heaven and hell at the helm of her barreling impala and documents every seamy character and seedy detail waiting in the occupied rooms of No-Tell Motels all across the USA. Her camera has found the stenchiest neon, creepiest kooks, and sexiest studs and sirens this side of the strip.
Years in the making, it began as she fought off a would-be rapist in a seedy motel and ends in the pages of the distinct, camp car-crash with desperate realism collection of pictures that she has honed over many years while engaged in the high and low ends of the visual biz.
Motels on major highways and hidden back roads all over the United States from New Jersey to LA, from Las Vegas to Florida and all in-between have had their doors pried to reveal the stories and inhabitants hidden within. All are candidly and lovingly revealed on the pages of Motel Bizarre in all of their encrusted glory.
Motel Bizarre is an eclectic collection of hundreds of photographic narratives and character studies exhibiting the margins of personality, style and taste existing in the confines of real motel rooms. Human oddities, S&M, forbidden love and fantasy and untold acts of goofy depravity highlight every page of this pictorial carnival.
Sexy strippers, wrestling transvestites, obese masochists, geeks, misguided glamor girls, gutsy groupies and all other manor of weathered humanity all brave the cockroaches and reveal their bodies and souls to Stephanie Crabe.
This collection is also a treasure for fans of classic American architecture and neon; it contains dozens of photographs of rare examples of neon and motels, many of which were sadly demolished shortly after being expertly and stylishly captured by Stephanie Crabe.
Cheap proprietors, enraged inhabitants, doped up dealers and thieves, bad weather, bad people and bad aesthetics were all courageously fought off for the creation of this collection of provocative, imaginative essays. An extensive historical introduction containing many rare, vintage photographs of motels provide a starting point for the debauchery and zaniness to ensue. A small sampling of the images contained in Motel Bizarre were unveiled in the last ever gallery exhibition at the famed CBGB's Gallery in New York to stunned, elated and surprised viewers.
Motel Bizarre is a curiosity cabinet for the fun, daring and unique.