Twentynine Palms Motel

Twenty-Nine Palms. Location scouting with director Christian Aeby in California. We were looking for locations to shoot BMW motorcycles. Driving through Joshua Tree National Park, crossing prairies, dried-up lakes, and sand dunes. It was just the two of us, and we decided to stay the night and film early the next morning without a crew. We checked into a shabby motel that looked like a film set from countless classics. The cold drove me out of bed early. The night was freezing, the walls thin, the duvet too light. Outside, there were frozen puddles. A harsh contrast to the endless summer of LA we were heading from. We had breakfast at the local diner. Police officers and truckers sat at the counter while the German-born waitress poured thin coffee and chatted tirelessly. My road movie, which had begun at the motel, seemed to follow the classic script. We returned days later for the main shoot with the team - at a different motel. Shot with Leica-R Summilux 50mm f1.4