New England on 35mm Film

“I really loved New England. It has a charm all its own—quiet, still, but somehow alive within that stillness. It left a deep impression on me. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced anywhere else.”

It was a grey morning in March as we left New York. The traffic was light, which made getting out relatively easy. Soon, we were in a very different landscape—rolling hills and big wooden houses surrounded by trees that had lost their leaves from the fall. Quiet, too. The odd truck and car on the road, but that was it.

We headed towards Lenox in Massachusetts. The three-hour drive took us through beautiful rural towns on back roads so pretty you didn’t want to take the turn-offs. We passed farmland with those beautifully built barns, the occasional derelict house, and quiet gas stations.

I started to feel a real sense of excitement—and oddness. It was the quietness that really struck me, and the wide-open spaces. As we reached Massachusetts and explored Vermont in the days that followed, that feeling only grew stronger.

Massachusetts and Vermont are stunning—even in March, when the trees are bare and the famous autumn colours are long gone. What you get instead is this haunting, “out-of-season” vibe. Small, eerily quiet towns with serious Stephen King energy—something I won’t forget anytime soon.

Picture-perfect wooden houses with white picket fences, cars parked along the curb, but no people around—just the sound of wind blowing leaves down the streets and the occasional caw of a crow overhead. Most shops had closed signs hanging from the doors, and the ones that were open felt like private showings. Even the motels were empty.

Honestly, it felt like being on a movie set—part Psycho, part The Shining.

We arrived at our motel just outside of Lenox, and we were the only guests there until the weekend, when a few more cars filled the parking lot. For the first few days, it was just us at breakfast and the bartender in the evenings. The place had a haunting atmosphere—and I have to admit, I loved it. It was a feeling I’d never experienced before, and much of the next few days carried that same tone, until we left New England and headed to Boston.

Empty brick building with a sign that reads 'Simon's Store' and a smaller sign in front that says 'For Sale', with a large tree in the background and a clear blue sky.
Condiments, including ketchup, sugar, salt, pepper, and sugar substitutes, on a table near a window with green floral curtains at a restaurant.
Old, weathered two-story house with peeling white paint, damaged roof, surrounded by leafless trees and a fenced yard in winter
A porch of a house with fallen leaves and broken branches in front, surrounded by leafless trees and a road in the background.
A black mailbox with the number 311 on it, decorated with pink and purple balloons, attached to a wooden post in a wooded area with trees in the background.
A bar with a wooden shelf stocked with various bottles of alcohol, a marble countertop with green chairs, and a large plant in the background.
Sign advertising Gardners with ice cream, coffee shoppe, miniature golf, and driving range; smaller sign underneath states breakfast and lunch now hiring. Rural area with power lines, trees, and a dirt road in background.
A rustic farm with an old wooden silo leaning to one side, adjacent to red barns and vehicles, set against a background of green hills and a blue sky.
A sign for Soup 'er Heroes Sandwich Shop with cartoon soup bowls dressed as superheroes. Below is a fuel price sign showing regular and diesel prices.
An old, weathered house with a dilapidated front porch and broken windows, surrounded by leafless trees in a wooded area.
A man wearing a red shirt and hat cooks food on a flat top grill in a diner kitchen, with various condiments and supplies on the counter in the foreground.
Snowy rural farm scene with an old wooden shed, red metal gates, and leafless trees
Old, weathered houses with overgrown yard and leafless trees, orange traffic cone on dirt ground, clear blue sky
Red weathered barn with small windows and large closed doors, parked red van on gravel ground, trees in background with blue sky and clouds.
Small roadside stand with a sign saying "Dairy Creme" featuring an ice cream cone illustration. The stand has colorful hand-drawn signs with ice cream cones, cups, and other desserts, and is located on an open lot with a few trees and a parking area with cars in the background.
A rural dirt road with bare trees and a speed limit sign of 25 mph. There are old buildings and houses on either side, with power lines overhead and a clear sky.
A small town street scene during dusk, with houses on a hillside, cars parked along the road, leafless trees, power lines, and a streetlamp illuminating the area. A wooden bench is in the foreground.
Blurry motion picture of a dark car driving past a weathered house with bare trees in the evening or early morning.
A rustic blue shed with a snow-covered roof, surrounded by leafless trees and snow on the ground.
A wooden barn with a metal roof, surrounded by leafless trees and snow on the ground, in a rural landscape.
A white two-story house with a gray roof, large front porch, and multiple windows, located on a quiet street with leafless trees and a grassy yard.
A worn teddy bear with beige fur and dark eyes sitting on a dusty floor next to a blue stroller and a stone wall, surrounded by scattered debris.
Old gas pumps at a fueling station with a sign showing fuel prices, against a backdrop of trees and houses. The regular unleaded gas is priced at $3.29 per gallon, and diesel at $3.99 per gallon.
A rustic convenience store with a red metal roof, benches outside, and a bulletin board. A nearby gas pump displays a price of $3.29 for regular unleaded gasoline. A sign reads 'Hassie & Ed's Texaco Inc.' and there is a large Citgo sign in the background.
Empty gas station with a CITGO sign showing the fuel price, a small store on the left, and a school bus parked in the distance.
Rusty barn and silo with an old red truck parked underneath, set against a backdrop of a hillside with trees.