Friday, March 5, 2010

Abandonment: The human disappearance. A photographic essay.

Passing this location three times a week I began to notice the changes that were being made. The house began to change, fade away, become a memory. The changing landscape is paving way for a new development. The human presence has taken a once beautiful home and vacated it, leaving nothing but waste, debris, and memories. As I was passing this location 3 days prior I noticed the sunlight hitting a set of mattress in the back of the house. This image is what compelled me to investigate the property. Twice now, using two different formats, (film and digital) I have made photographs that show the remains of the human presence.
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 Kitchen 1 Kitchen 2 Kitchen 3 Kitchen 4 Kitchen 5 Kitchen 6 Kitchen 7
Orange room Red Chair

2 comments:

Kristen Miller Deslauriers said...

I'm glad to see that you brought this unknown place, these unknown things back to life. It's interesting to see how people lived, what they left behind. The things like the ice cooler,sneakers, chairs, books and the cigarette can give details about who they were. I see the sudden abandonment and it leaves me to question their well being in the world...who were these people? Where did they suddenly go? Why such carelessness in their leave? This is what we hope photography can provoke-emotion and curiosity.

What's more is that this series is not so much about the art- but an example of making a photographic statement. This statement being about the human condition- a social documentary. The fact that the pictures are artful simply add to the statement. Nice work. I would like to see more of this.

Kristen Miller Deslauriers said...

I'm glad to see that you brought this unknown place, these unknown things back to life. It's interesting to see how people lived, what they left behind. The things like the ice cooler, sneakers, chairs, books and the cigarette can give details about who they were. I see the sudden abandonment and it leaves me to question their well being in the world...who were these people? Where did they suddenly go? Why such carelessness in their leave? This is what we hope photography can provoke-emotion and curiosity.

What's more is that this series is not so much about the art- but an example of making a photographic statement. This statement being about the human condition- a social documentary. The fact that the pictures are artful simply add to the statement. Nice work. I would like to see more of this.