When you drive on the highway, zooming at break neck speed past eateries, gas stations and motels, you don’t really miss those images. Instead, you carry back fleeting impressions of a totality. It is in order to add a touch of permanence to this transient element of a common experience that architectural historian, John Margolies decided to travel across the roads of America, camera in tow. And thus, this intriguing album of American Roadside Architecture. Recently on display at the USIS, Margolies’s series of photographs were a lucid documentation of America’s forgotten roadscape.

In the 20th century, with the boom in the automobile market, the American businessman had to find ways to lure those travelling by car. For the new clientele in a hurry ? looking for a quick grab or a safe place to spend the night ? whatever the temptation, it needed to be quick and substantial.

And it is this phenomenon that Margolies freezes in his frames. Be it the imposing Flying Saucer Gas Station in Ohio, the Fairyland Cottages in Minnesota or Bob’s Java Jive in Washington ? the photographs underline elements that go into the making of a utilitarian market. As a photographer, Margolies prefers a clear sky and a natural setting. What makes his effort commendable is that his frames weave a spontaneous narrative through an impulsive traveller’s eyes.