When I go to the cinema lately, I’ll admit, it does feel nostalgic, almost as if I’m doing something like they did “in the old days”– and my local cinema isn’t even a charming independent one. Should we blame it on Netflix? From our smartphones to internet-abled TV, today we have more entertainment options at our fingertips all the time, than ever before. Netflix has over 85 million members and operates in more than 190 countries worldwide. You’d like to think that cinemas will never disappear, but are you sure they really won’t?
If it did happen, at least German-born photographer Stephan Zaubitzer will have documented most of what we lost. In an ongoing archive of photographs, Stephan has been taking pictures of cinemas in city centers around the world, endlessly fascinated by their dark interiors and outlandish architecture that always stands out from their urban surroundings. It all started in Morocco in 2003 when his flight was delayed in Burkina Faso and so he went out into the city to explore and began photographing the city’s movie theatres. The rest is history– and a lot of its fascinating old cinemas.
Morocco
Cuba
Egypt
I’d also like to add one to the list– The Abandoned Secret Cinema of the Sinai Desert.
California
If you’d like to sneak into more of California’s most beautiful art deco cinemas, go here.
Burkina Faso
You might also be interested in this project dedicated entirely to documenting the architecture of Africa’s old cinemas; photographing them, mapping them and finding out as much as they can about them.
Lebanon
India
Interesting side note– did you know that Mumbai in India has the second largest number of surviving Art Deco buildings in the world after Miami?
Brazil
The Czech Republic
All of Stephan Zaubitzer’s cinemas are here.
