Half a century ago, a Swiss photographer named Robert Frank traversed the United States, capturing the essence of the American Dream, its poetry and its failings. Each night, he laid his head to rest on the pillow of some new and anonymous roadside motel. Twenty years later, it was Stephen Shore who stayed overnight along Route 66; in the 2000s, Alec Soth would follow in their footsteps. Ever since its inception, the American motel has lured photographers away from home, becoming their refuge on long nights spent on the open road.