In 1992, Canadian photojournalist Martina Stanek took a trip down Route 66 in the USA. Martina worked for Agence Gamma, then joined Agence France-Presse (AFP) in 1995, where she was in charge of “special photo requests” until 2023.
Amarillo, Texas, October 02, 1992.
“I was introduced to Route 66 by John T. Davis, an Irish documentary film director, that I met totally by chance on a street in Los Angeles in 1983,” Martina tells us.
“I believe that it was a New Year’s Day that a friend and me were driving down to the beach when we almost got into a car accident with some guys in a car from Oklahoma. By the time we got to the beach we ran into the same group. We got talking and discovered that they were Irish and English and filming the end to a documentary on Route 66 in Santa Monica. This is where Route 66 ends – and this is where my desire to travel Route 66 started.”
Historic Route 66 in Seligman, Arizona, October 01, 1992.
“I had to wait until 1992 to finally to do Route 66,” says Martina. “My French boyfriend and I planned to do only a portion of the highway due to the fact that we were delivering a car to Nashville.
“I was ecstatic to discover what I had only seen in photographs or films. It was like Disneyland for me. Route 66 ended for us in Oklahoma City from where we headed to Tennessee to deliver the car and visit friends.”
Hollbrook, Arizona, October 01, 1992.
Wigwam Motel on the Historic Route 66 in Hollbrook, Arizona, October 01, 1992.
“I was born in Toronto, Canada. Shortly after my birth, my parents moved to California where I grew up,” says Martina. “Passionate about photography from an early age, I attended Santa Monica Community College. Wanting to discover the world with my camera, I traveled the United States and its legendary places, Route 66, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, New York, etc., then Europe.
“I was particularly touched by Ireland, which I visited several times, and photographed Cork, Dublin, Belfast, etc.
‘In 1987, I arrived in France, which I never left, settling in Paris where I found my place in the world of photojournalism. I worked for Agence Gamma, then joined Agence France-Presse (AFP) in 1995, where I was in charge of “special photo requests” until 2023.
“I continue my personal work and am presently working on my film archives.”
Amarillo, Texas, October 02, 1992.
Route 66 in Tucamcari, New Mexico, October 02, 1992.
Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas, October 02, 1992.
Route 66 in Tucamcari, New Mexico, October 02, 1992.
Gallup, New Mexico, October 01, 1992.
Shamrock, Texas, October 02, 1992.
A tombstone builder’s lot on the road in Little Rock, Arkansas, October 02, 1992.
Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, October 04, 1992.
Jeff Young at Tootsies Orchid Lounge, Nashville, Tennessee, October 10, 1992.
Meteor City, Arizona, October 01, 1992.
Gallup, New Mexico, October 01, 1992.
In 2022, Martina’s photographs were exhibited at the prestigious Hôtel Drouot auction house in Paris with the support of Agence France-Presse.
BOOK PUBLICATIONS: The Waterboys 1985 How The Waterboys made This is the Sea and saw the Whole of the Moon, 2024. Michka: The Grande Dame of Cannabis Tells Her Story, 2020. Photos by Martina Stanek also have appeared in Le Monde, Le Monde diplomatique, L’Express, Le Journal des arts, Réponses Photo, Vis-à-Villes, Free Voice, La Gazette de l’hôtel Drouot.
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