Architecture – Under seven full moons — one of them a Super Moon — across five years, ‘nocturnal’ photographer Tom Blachford kept returning to Palm Springs to chase the desert’s quieter, after-dark side. The result is Midnight Modern, a photo essay that reads the city’s midcentury landmarks by moonlight alone. As Blachford puts it: “Each trip was a pilgrimage to the desert to pay homage to iconic shrines of mid-century hedonism” — buildings that have shaped architects well beyond California ever since.

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Palm Springs earned its status as the spiritual home of Mid-Century Modernism back in the 1950s, when Hollywood came looking for calm, greenery and a two-hour escape route from L.A. The city marks that legacy every year with Modernism Week, a celebration of the Desert Modernist period pioneered by Richard Neutra, Albert Frey and their contemporaries.

Blachford shot everything under nothing but full moonlight. “I shot using only the light of the full moon. Combined, the architecture, the mountains and the moonlight create a cinematic result that invites the viewer to complete their own story beyond the single frame,” he says. “Both nostalgic and original, the scenes exist simultaneously between the past and the present, like portals through time.”

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None of this happened solo. Blachford worked closely with the Palm Springs Modernist Committee, Modernism Week, local homeowners, car collectors and location scouts, whose support opened doors that don’t usually swing open for visiting photographers.

That access ran deep: the Kaufmann Residence, Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms, the Frey II house, and a string of carefully restored Alexander tract homes all made it into his lens.

“My series are usually trying to connect the architecture of a place with a feeling and adding in a sense of mystery. As such, my process has been to plan less and just get on the ground and start shooting and try to connect with my impulses for what I’m drawn to.” Said Tom Blachford in an interview with TDF.

The night shifts took their toll. “Sometimes I wonder how I found the energy for. I really pushed my mind, stamina and equipment to the limits. I would normally shoot from 7 pm-4 am for 5 nights in a row – 2 nights either side of full moon – and spend the days scouting and arranging access and cars with the homeowners.”

All photos by Tom Blachford can be purchased at tomblachford.com.