This was a collaboration with John Campopiano, published in 2016 on the blog for the New England Media & Memory Coalition, which he founded the year prior.
This piece was born out of several summertime visits to a quirky flea market spot in New Hampshire known for its massive VHS inventory.
With a presence at the Hollis Flea Market spanning nearly 20 years, and more than a decade of selling VHS specifically, it’s unlikely the Barn will be going anywhere anytime soon. (Ever try to sell out an inventory of 40,000 tapes? Not an easy venture.) It’s difficult to gauge Mark’s plans for expansion or advancement — he alluded to creating a searchable image database for his titles — but the beauty of the Barn is its simplicity. There’s magic in its dusty floors, in the awkward positions in which you need to contort your body to see certain rows, and in the pockets of crisp air near the back wall on a warm July morning.
“Rustic VHS: Digging at the Tape Barn”
Death Ray Dive 