Jake Longstreth, a Los Angeles-based artist, finds inspiration for his paintings in the parking lots of Home Depot, Best Buy, and other retail and restaurant chains. 

“I try to make beautiful paintings of these places that typically aren't thought of as picturesque,” he said. 

Longstreth said painters over the years have used landscape as a lens to explore the world they live in. “Economics, politics — all of that stuff is embedded in the physical landscape,” he said.

In this era where much of the American physical landscape is dominated by asphalt, office buildings, and chain stores, Longstreth has painted a Taco Bell at the foot of Mount Shasta, an Amazon delivery truck zooming through a grove of trees, and a Pizza Hut logo peeking from behind a tree. 

“I have spent many, many weeks and months of my life driving around shopping centers looking for the right vantage point,” he said. 

Click the audio player above to hear how Longstreth's work has changed in the age of e-commerce.