Photographer David Egan captures the neon glow of Nevada at night in his series I always hoped for better. “Journeying throughout the entire state of Nevada allows me a level of satisfaction that I rarely achieve,” Egan says of the project, which he says was inspired by a “fascination with elements of the past.”
The series definitely feels as if it was shot in a different time. From old-fashioned hotel rooms bathed in pink light, to classic motel signs and lonely lamps illuminating quiet gas stations, Egan’s night photography documents a Nevada that feels worlds away from Las Vegas.
Egan’s Nevada has all the Americana charms of Vegas, but none of the glamor. These photos record a landscape that feels like it was left behind sometime in the 70s. (In one of the strangest images, an otherwise blank building displays a sign reading “Welcome Back.”) Despite being shot entirely at night, some photos in the series are as bright as day, with neon signs and harsh streetlights creating a perpetual blue-and-orange twilight.
See more of David Egan’s work at his portfolio.
Want to see more Americana?
Jason Lee’s Photography of a Dust-Covered America
Sam Stone’s Lonely American Landscape
Why Art Needs to Fight America’s Nostalgia Problem
