North Wilkesboro, Carolina del Norte, 1982

Elizabeth Matheson was born in Durham and grew up in Hillsborough, North Carolina. She studied photography at the Penland School of Craft in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Matheson has spent much of her career photographing locations in North Carolina and the American South. Her photographs document everyday places, including landscapes, buildings, and historic sites. 

I photograph what delights me and asks for my attention … I know that at any moment light can beautify the most ordinary corner of the most ordinary yard and that these small jolts of elation can be captured. 

Elizabeth Matheson

In North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, 1982, Matheson shows an empty drive-in movie theater. Rows of white speaker posts show how the space was once organized for cars and moviegoers. A large movie screen stands at the center of this image. Instead of displaying a film, the screen shows the shadows of the tree-covered hills behind it. The photograph captures both the drive-in theater and the surrounding landscape, showing how this place has changed over time. 

North Carolina had more than 200 drive-in movie theaters during the 1950s. Only five remain in operation.