Screen, Holiday Drive-in Theater, Boulder, Colorado, November 3, 1980

In the 1980s, Steve Fitch was teaching photography at the University of Colorado, Boulder, photographing prehistoric Native rock art, and learning to fabricate his own neon pieces. He was also interested in the towering forms of drive-in movie screens, such as this one in Boulder. Built in 1953, the theater could accommodate up to 650 cars. By the time this picture was made, it was nearly thirty years old. Fitch uses the documentary nature of photography to show the screen just as it appeared but his framing of the composition underscores the strangeness of this human-built element in the landscape. And despite its realism, the three tones of the screen alongside the blue sky and green earth make this appear like an abstract, color field painting. Whether we look at this picture for its nostalgia or its esthetics, the artist prods us to ponder this American cultural icon.