On the road, and over the river

Wayne Kodey’s portion of the exhibit centers on the stretch of Route 66 in Arizona between Kingman and Seligman as the road loops north of I-40.

By Kristen Peterson (contact)

Friday, May 8, 2009 | 2 a.m.

This view of the Grand Canyon by Geri Kodey is also included in the "Down the Colorado and Bypassed Byways" exhibit at UNLV.

The Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Ariz., is among the black and white photographs Wayne Kodey took from 1988 to last week on Route 66.

The Colorado River flowing through the Grand Canyon and the famous Route 66 near Kingman, Ariz., both splice landscapes in the Southwest.

They’re celebrated, lined with unique life and somewhat isolated. Massive canyon walls shield the river, while Interstate 40 detracts from Route 66.

An exhibit opening today at UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum presents intimate moments in both worlds.

The exhibit, “Down the Colorado and Bypassed Byways,” features the photographs of Geri and Wayne Kodey, the husband and wife team who own Casey’s Cameras and teach photography.

Wayne Kodey’s black and white photographs, shot between 1988 and last week, focus mostly on roadside stops on the stretch of Route 66 between Kingman and Seligman that loops north of

I-40. His clever photo of the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Ariz., portrays a relatively humdrum moment during the daytime when the concrete tepee motel rooms are baking in the sun.

A photo of Mildred Barker, owner of the Frontier Cafe in Truxton, Ariz., shows the unsmiling woman seated at a tidy lunch counter, holding a beverage in her hand and looking at the camera while a customer lunches nearby.

Juan Delgadillo, a known practical joker who owned the Sno Cap Drive-In, stands at the counter offering a mischievous grimace. His casual dress is accented by a white belt and an “I did it on Route 66 in Arizona” button.

His brother Angel Delgadillo, Route 66 history advocate and owner of Angel’s Barbershop, rests in his barber chair, most likely telling a story.

“A lot of these people can tell you what they were doing in 1978 the day the I-40 opened,” Wayne Kodey says. “It was like somebody turned the lights out.”

There are the nameless — a young roper in midstride in Ash Fork, Ariz., and a woman in her floral housecoat and fuzzy slippers sitting on one of four mismatched porch chairs in a row. A big satellite dish looms above the home’s corrugated tin roof.

Most compelling is a portrait of a rancher and his young son. The son, about 5 years old, is dressed in a button-up long-sleeved shirt and boots; his hair is perfectly, almost oddly, styled. His young father, looking serious, protective and suspicious of the camera, stands behind him with his hands on his shoulders.

The Kodeys have made several trips to the various towns on Route 66 and the Grand Canyon rims, but Geri Kodey, who has lived in Las Vegas since 1967, had always wanted to raft the river and photograph it up close. The opportunity presented itself when she was offered a chance to teach on a UNLV Education Outreach trip last year. Her roadside attractions, flanking the river, are of a different sort.

The two-week trip gave her time to explore the vast canyon, its waterfalls and rock formations. She captured them in sweeping images and vibrant close-ups, so clean and detailed that the scrawny young bighorn sheep might as well be standing immediately in front of you. A datura blossoming in the evening unfolds like a spiral. Its petals, thick and white when close, mimic cotton fabric. A backlit agave glows among the rock. The textured landscape is interrupted by a swell of once-flowing lava.

Lava Falls is shown in context, as seen from 3,000 feet away on a ledge, and up close, photographed riverside while on her belly as the large raft holding her travel companions navigates through intense rapids.

The exhibit also includes abstract works and images more akin to painting than photography.

Reflections of blue sky and orange rock are distorted and contained in ripples. Formidable and detailed rocks are enveloped by water blurred by long exposures.

“This is very out of the box for me,” Geri Kodey says while looking at the works. “Having no phone, no BlackBerry allows you to go to that space where you never go.”