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Artist's Statement

During my visits to the Death Valley area over the years I had driven by this abandoned roadside laundromat in the desert near Tecopa, CA many times, considering it as a monument to the past, when Tecopa was an active mining area. After photographing it with my iPhone's camera last year I attempted to render the image as an old photograph that was captured years ago when the building and truck were 'alive', and was now also showing signs of the passage of time. 

Judge's Comment

Laurie Naiman's "Desert Laundromat, Closed" gives us a different perspective on time: time as desolation. The laundromat was once a going concern, but that was long ago. In this image, the high-contrast printing, the tilted horizon and the ragged edge of the image all work together to convey the harshness of the desert environment. In the end, nature prevails.

-- David Hibbard