On Photography | Thomas R. Mason Prospero's Kansas City

(Illustrations by Caroline Jenkinson, The Interiors Almanac)

The Interiors Almanac came across Thomas R. Mason’s photography through Instagram, immediately beguiled by the bold and beautiful 1950’s Neon signs that are ever present in his work. We asked Thomas to photograph one of his favourite stores in the Mid West, he promptly replied with photograph’s of Prospero’s, a book store in Kansas City, Missouri.

The store is evocative of Michel Gondry’s madcap video store in the film Be Kind Rewind, with reams of books and an abandoned type writer and telephone. 

Can you recollect the first time you picked up a camera and the first photograph you ever took?  

My first camera was probably a Kodak disposable 35mm, which I took pictures of toys and building blocks.  Although, my first real camera was a Olympus XB700 35mm that had a built in 70mm zoom.  My mom got it for me at a Kmart during a vacation in the Florida everglades in 2001 when I was 11 years old.  I was getting too close to the alligators in the swamp with the cheapie cameras.  The 70mm zoom was enough distance between me and them, so I could get some pictures and not scare the hell out of my parents.  

My first real picture was a wild alligator on the side of a road.  I should dig it out and scan it.

Are you a regular customer at Prospero's book shop?

I've been shopping there for about six years. I got to know everybody when they broke the world record for the longest consecutive poetry reading for 120 hours back in April 2010.  It's very much a neighborhood hangout, always characters in there, people playing chess, arguing about literature, movies, comics, and of course drinking cheap beer.

It's a very special place, It couldn't be manufactured, or transplanted.

How old is Prospero’s bookshop? 

They started in 1997 across the street and moved to the current location in 1999.  The building is from 1890 and used to be a hardware store, you can tell, there's a lot of relics still hanging around from that.   

Do you have a favorite section of the store?

Yeah, the front where they display all the recent arrival's, you never know what they're going to have. 

Do you prefer taking photographs at dusk?

It's the best time to take photos.  The so-called "Magic Hour" There's no harsh shadows or glare, but there's enough refracted sunlight to compete with all the artificial light.  So you can get cool city photos without the glare of street lights.  

You often feature Neon billboards in your work, why are you so drawn to them?

I like them because they are handmade works of art, that are not being made anymore.  There was a revival in the 1980s, where artists reexamined their worth.  But in modern post-recession America, not that many people have the money to upkeep them, (even though they are very energy efficient)  and generic corporate chains will never install new ones, they just print LED signs.

If you're traveling and see a cool neon sign, there's a good chance it's a Mom & Pop store, since corporate aesthetics wouldn't put up with something so dated and cheery.

I think in a way flashy Neon signs are like how flower blossom attracts bees, only at one time it was cars.