“I shot this on a trip to the Minnesota North Shore, on Lake Superior,” says Stephanie Torbert. “I pulled into this motel. I didn’t stay there, I just happened on it. I was so struck by all those shiny black cars with the red neon reflections on them.”

There is little doubt that the building is a motel; the architecture and the parked cars announce it. Why are there bed pillows resting outside a motel room in the car? The position of the pillows in the car look as if part of the motel room has been brought outside. What belongs outside and what belongs inside?

“Another thing that I didn’t think about when I made this picture but that I see now is this little rearview mirror on the side of the car,” says Torbert. “It’s like a tiny little world all its own. It’s hard to tell what’s in the mirror, but I know this landscape and I bet it’s a pine tree. There is a little piece of what is behind you in front of you.”