4.19.2010

Cinematic Utah: Northern Utah Triple Feature

My occasional photographic series of small, run-down Utah towns has started to come into a tighter focus lately. Instead of shooting any old building I see, I have started thinking more specifically about the single screen movie theaters.

This change in emphasis has largely been facilitated by the website Cinema Treasures, which lists pretty much every theater that has ever existed (as far as I know) across the country, and whether it is currently open, closed, or demolished. You can also sort by state, so I went through the entire Utah list, taking note of the theaters that would be a good fit in for my series.

As we were planning a quick trip up to Logan to visit my parents this weekend, I consulted my list and found theaters in Garland and Smithfield that we could find without going too far out of the way. I had already photographed the theater in Brigham City last fall, so I'm including those shots here as well.

Capitol Theatre #1 // Brigham City // 10.23.09

Capitol Theatre #2 // Brigham City // 10.23.09

Main Theatre #1 // Garland // 4.16.10

Main Theatre #2 // Garland // 4.16.10

Main Theatre #1 // Smithfield // 4.17.10

Main Theatre #2 // Smithfield // 4.17.10

I have been pondering what I should ultimately do with these photos. I have thought about putting together a separate website/blog for them—perhaps people could order prints if they so desired. It would also be really cool to develop a nice coffee table book with a historic profile of each theater. Unfortunately I have no idea how I would fund something like that, or how to go about getting it published. Does anyone have a wealthy uncle who loves old movie theaters?

7 comments:

Christie said...

Is the one in Smithfield closed? It seems like I remember going to dollar movies there when I was at USU..

Dave said...

According to Cinema Treasures, the Smithfield theater closed in 2004. But the marquee seems to indicate they are showing Cash 4 Gold commercials. "I had no idea my gold jewelry was worth so much money."

Christie said...

What about the Utah Theater in Logan? (where I also went to dollar movies..)

Dave said...

I never actually saw any movies at the Smithfield theater when I was up at USU, but I did go to the Utah Theater a number of times. From what I understand, it was screening classic movies for a while, then it closed for renovations a few years ago. Mom was speculating the project had stalled due to the poor economy, because it has yet to reopen. I am planning to photograph it at some point.

Anonymous said...

Cam and I's first date was at main theater #1. It was some kind of dumb concert but the relationship worked out all right.

Cheeseboy said...

I love this series. For whatever reason, it is so interesting to me. Your photos are great too.

Jessica said...

Ive wanted to do the same for my pics I took in nyc. I recently made a book on shutterfly of them. My cousin told me to set up a store on Etsy to sell prints.. perhaps thats somewhere you could start?