Out of Season
Hardcover, 224 pages
11.75 x 9.25 inches
Essays by Joseph Giovannini and Jamer Hunt
Booth-Clibborn Editions/Abrams Books

Wildwood, New Jersey: thanks to a combination of economics, geography, and chance, this seaside vacation spot has, for more than four decades, been home to a wealth of immaculately preserved midcentury motels. These jewels of modernist architecture remained frozen in time until recently; now, a substantial number have been demolished and many that remain face an uncertain future. Ten years in the making, Out of Season is a sprawling series of photographs documenting these vanishing treasures. A number of the motels in the series were photographed at the end of their last season, just prior to demolition –- empty not because the summer is over, but because we as a culture have moved on.

“A decade-long elegy” 
— The New York Times

“Essentially a revolutionary architectural diary, the new tome titled Out of Season historically marks a dialogue that is comparable to many mid-century modern architects."
— Wallpaper

“Photographer Mark Havens spent 10 years documenting the motels of Wildwood in coastal New Jersey - a land of beautiful modernist kitsch, full of pink stilts, zig-zag verandas and ubiquitous palm trees.”
— The Guardian

"Can’t get to the beach before the end of summer? Flip through the pages of artist Mark Havens’ cool photo book. It captures the vintage modernist architecture of Wildwood on the Jersey Shore. . . . Slather on the sunscreen, pour yourself a cold one and enjoy.”
— The New York Post

“Ten years in the making, this photo collection showcases the motels of Wildwood. . . . The photos offer details large and small: not simply obvious icons such as neon signs but close shots of roof and window composition, and studious attention to the often socializing-oriented courtyard or pool-focused motel designs. The book is in some sense a catalogue of kitsch, but with much of its subject imperiled, it serves as a call for preservation as well.”
— Publishers Weekly

“Photographer Mark Havens captures the beauty of each space through small details, from the specific placement of each chair to the unbroken symmetry between every window and door. The book is Havens’s decade-long project, composed of dozens of images, documenting the mid-century hotels in this seaside town, some still standing, others repurposed, and many that eventually succumbed to demolition.”
— Modern Magazine

“Over a 10 year period, photographer Mark Havens explored the Wildwoods motels at their quietest moments. The book sequences the photographs from dawn to night. There are no people, no sun-seekers or tourists: just evocative photographs of a unique and vanishing form of architecture.”
— Atlas Obscura

“This book takes a look at the prime coastal location of Wildwood, but not for the sweet boardwalk and sandy dunes--rather, the extraordinary midcentury motels that dot the town. . . photographer Mark Havens managed to capture the underlying kitschy spirit of each one.”
— Interview Magazine

“Mark Havens spent his childhood exploring the Jersey Shore’s kitschy jewel: Wildwood. Once home to the country’s largest concentration of midcentury hotel architecture, the barrier island’s distinctive plastic-palm facade has given way to modern condominium development. . . He started photographing the tourist destination nearly 10 years ago, capturing the kidney-shaped pools, the looping neon signs, and the barrage of faded colors before they were gone.”
— The Atlantic

"Havens’ book is a quiet but striking reminder of Wildwood’s glory days as not only the epicenter of summer vacations in the mid-Atlantic, but of the bold moves of developers and architects alike during the 50s and 60s.”
— Curbed.com

“At a time when luxury towers and cookie-cutter condo and retail sites now dominate America’s landscapes, older buildings often fall victim to gentrification. Thankfully, Philadelphia-based photographer Mark Havens has embarked on a 10-year exploration to preserve the memory of some of the nation’s most colorfully eclectic and iconic architecture.”
— The Daily Beast

“Some love the Jersey Shore for the sea and sand, others for the boardwalks. Photographer Mark Havens’ favorite thing about the shore is a bit less predictable: the architecture. In his new book, Out of Season, Havens--a regular on the beaches of Wildwood, New Jersey--presents a collection of more than 100 photos of the stunning midcentury-modern motels of Wildwood.”
— DuJour