Models Come in All Shapes and Sizes

If you follow my blog, then you know last Friday I posted a pic of the beautiful model Amber Hunter posing in front of one of the cars at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.  I find these pics of cows posing for me to be entertaining, too.  I have now posted all of my pics from this trip on my web site at www.douggraybealphotography.com in the gallery under inspiring places – Texas as well as Portraits and Glamour.

Cadillac Ranch consists of 10 Cadillac models from 1949 to 1963, buried nose down in the ground just a few miles outside of Amarillo on Hwy 40.  According to Wikipedia, they are buried at an angle that corresponds to the Great Pyramid of Giza.  It was intended to be a statement about America’s fascination with roadside attractions and the automobile, itself.   The original Cadillac Ranch was in a different field and in 1997, relocated a few miles further away to avoid the city growth from Amarillo.

Today, Cadillac Ranch sits in a cow pasture right off the freeway.  It would be easy to drive by and miss it, although there is a constant stream of people stopping to take pictures.  Over the years, people have stripped the cars of anything they could.  Now, the cars are basically just the shells.  Even the tires are gone.  Tourists have also spray painted graffiti every where.  Not a square inch shows the original paint.  When I first heard this, I was disappointed that people would destroy a piece of art that someone created to share with the public.  They put their time and money in to creating it and left it open to share with everyone.  There is no admission, no ticket takers and no guards like in a museum.  They trust people to do the right thing.

After I saw it, my views changed.  Part of the attraction is how quirky and odd it is.  Part of it is also how the public has been invited to share in it and help create the art.  These ten Cadillacs are colorful and inspiring.  There are personal messages, political messages and even a pair of tennis shoes that someone donated and left hanging on one of the cars.  It is the public’s interaction that keeps it evolving.  By the time I left, I had wished I would have brought my own can of spray paint.  Cadillac Ranch represents more than just cars and roadside attractions.  Today, it is something that bonds people from all over the country as they stop and leave their mark on these ten cars.