The Lost America of Troy Paiva

Photographer Troy Paiva spends much of his working life standing in the pitch darkness of middle America, his camera locked onto some desolate run-down building or abandoned car wreck. Using only the moon and starlight and a long exposure of up to four minutes, he captures the crumbling remains of buildings, cars and caravans. And, while the aperture is open, he uses flashes with coloured filters to add areas of interest to the exposure. He calls it 'painting with light'. The results are eerie and quite beautiful.

Paiva's low budget high impact technique has attracted a legion of fans (and imitators) but his work remains unique. You can see a lot more images at his Lost America site or on his Flickr stream: