About the work

A closer look.

Story-pictures, one image each, with the line underneath. The set grows as I find more. So far: ZZYZX, California — a man took a desert spring in 1944, built a fake health spa, and made up a name designed to be the last word in every phone book. CW MRHYDYCEIRW, near Swansea — the sign reads "the ford of the deer", but the old records say Cwmrhydycwrw, the ford of the BEER. Beer got swapped for deer because it sounded more respectable. The old truth survived in the paperwork anyway. LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLL, Anglesey — the long one. A station name lengthened in the 1860s mostly as a tourism stunt, and it worked: people have been saying it wrong for 160 years. A, Lofoten, Norway — the name is the last letter of the alphabet, old Scandinavian for "small river". Pronounced "awe", so the name makes the surprised face. Two ruling families, two of everything, end of the road. WHY, Arizona — the founders wanted a Y junction and the state said names need three letters. They turned the Y around and made it a name. BRISTOL, England — Brunel spanned the Avon Gorge in 1864 with a chain bridge he never saw finished. The terraces still climb both sides of the water. You get the image files and the story text for each place. No Name, Colorado joins when it unwraps.