Category Archives: Photograph

Upstate and Western New York

Buffalo is one of my favorite cities, with its amazing architectural history, telescope houses, and activist culture. So when in Upstate New York for the International Visual Sociological Association’s annual meeting, I added a few days onto the trip to head west. The following photographs are a few highlights from my time in Saratoga Springs, Amsterdam, and, of course, Buffalo.

Along New York State Route 33

Samantha's Garden

Additions

The Adirondack Trust Co.

Telescope House

Herbicide Before the Car Show

Portrait with Car

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Park, Pay Here

Among Former Coal Mines in France and Belgium

Earlier this summer, I returned to France to continue working on my Hauts-de-France Mining Basin project and to present at a conference about resilience strategies. While there, I photographed throughout the region, including at high-profile coal mine redevelopment sites. Among those I visited are the 51N4E-designed C-Mine complex and Koen Vanmechelen’s Labiomista in Genk, Belgium, as well as the SANAA-designed Louvre Lens in Lens, France. Several of these photographs from the broader mining basin and former mines are below.

Basketball and Power Plants

Bumper Cars

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Burned Car in Valenciennes

Street, Terril

In Lens

COAL MINE REDEVELOPMENT SITES
C-Mine (Genk, Belgium)

C-Mine Winding Tower and Labyrinth

C-Mine Expedition

Thor Park (Genk, Belgium)

Thor Park Thor Park

Koen Vanmechelen’s Labiomista (Genk, Belgium)

Koen Vanmechelen's Labiomista Koen Vanmechelen's Labiomista

Koen Vanmechelen's Labiomista

9-9 Bis (Oignies, France)

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9-9 Bis

Mine, Terril du 11/19 (Loos-en-Gohelle, France)

Mine, Terril du 11/19

Noyelles-sous-Lens Terril (Lens, France)

Riding on the Terril

Louvre-Lens Museum (Lens, France)
Louvre-Lens Museum

Louvre-Lens Museum's The Galerie du Temps

Los Angeles, California

I was in Los Angeles for a couple of days last week to screen The Area at the Urban Affairs Association annual meeting and then prepare for our screening at the Echo Park Film Center. I didn’t have much time to make new work, but I was able to set aside a couple of hours to get out into the city. During that time, I mainly photographed UCLA’s campus, Inglewood, and near LAX. Here are a few favorites.


Tree, House

Four Doors

Inglewood Oil Field

Boelter Hall UCLA's Student Union

Keyhole Bush Entrance

Carne De Novillo

Days Inn

Randy's Donuts

Exhibitions in Indianapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee

The beginning of 2019 has been full of photographic and film events, but I’d like to pause and share details from my three exhibitions in Milwaukee, Indianapolis, and Chicago.

The first is my exhibition “Three Communities” at the Tube Factory Artspace in Indianapolis, Indiana. The show explores the relationship between community and place by featuring a new project in Indianapolis alongside my work from Hauts-de-France Mining Basin and The Area. The in-process Indianapolis project explores the south side Bean Creek neighborhood’s longstanding connection to its namesake creek and the way it divides and connects the community.

The second is “Growing Place: A Visual Study of Urban Farming,” my collaboration with Michael Carriere at the Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through new photographs and archival materials, the exhibition explores the development of urban gardening as a practice essential to the city’s growth and identity, and foregrounds the current work of activists like Growing Power’s Will Allen.

The third is my dual show at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, “Chicago Stories: Recent Work by Carlos Javier Ortiz and David Schalliol.” The exhibition pairs my Isolated Building Studies and The Area with Carlos Javier Ortiz‘s outstanding Chicago-based work as a response to Birmingham, Alabama, 1963: Dawoud Bey/Black Star.

We designed some powerful events for each exhibition, including talks with Will Allen, screenings with Deborah Payne, and panel discussions about Chicago’s ongoing experience with segregation.

Installation and event photographs are below.

Three Communities
Tube Factory Artspace in Indianapolis, Indiana

Three Communities at the Tube Factory Artspace

Gallery Talk at the Tube Factory Artspace
Photograph by Molly Hanse

Q&A at the Tube Factory Artspace
Photograph by Brian Ashby

Growing Place: A Visual Study of Urban Farming
The Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Gallery Talk at the Grohmann Museum
Photograph by Esther Carriere

Growing Place

Will Allen at the Grohmann Museum

Chicago Stories: Recent Work by Carlos Javier Ortiz and David Schalliol
Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Illinois

Chicago Stories at the Museum of Contemporary Photography

Chicago Stories Opening

MoCP Panel-Edit
Still by Scrappers Film Group

Old Projects, New Phases

After years of steadily developing several long-term projects, 2018 was the year many of them dramatically changed. The Area is out in the world; my Hauts-de-France work is exhibiting; so many other projects are evolving. With those big changes in mind, here’s a recap of my work on major projects in 2018, a few highlights from smaller projects, and a little looking ahead to 2019.

The Area Film

After six years of work, The Area is screening. Since premiering at the Full Frame Film Festival in April and making its Chicago premiere at the Black Harvest Film Festival in August, we’ve been busy screening the film with an amazing set of partners, including the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the National Public Housing Museum, universities, community organizing groups, and the Gene Siskel Film Center. To learn more about screenings, news, and requesting a screening, visit The Area’s website.

At the Black Harvest Film Festival

Black Harvest Film Festival Black Harvest Film Festival
Full Frame Film Festival Black Harvest Film Festival

Hauts-de-France Mining Basin and the Resilient Images Residency

Following a preview at Expo Chicago and multiple exhibitions in France in 2017, my Resilient Images work had its full exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center in 2018. In June, a subset of the project returned to France for exhibition during the national urban planning conference RDV avec la Ville. I made some new work during the June visit, so I’m not quite ready to call the project complete, but I’m pleased with it and where it’s going.

Installation of Hauts-de-France Mining Basin

Cité Werth à Denain

Bean Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana

Over the last few years, I’ve been steadily developing a project in Indianapolis with support from Big Car. I tightened the work in 2018 by emphasizing how the south side neighborhood has evolved with small creek that winds through the community. The first exhibition from that residency will appear at the Tube Factory Art Space next year. The show focuses on the relationship between people and place, and puts the Bean Creek work in dialogue with my projects in The Area and Hauts-de-France. More information about the exhibition is on facebook.

Bean Creek

With a Stray Dog Strike Fear or Get Struck

Urban Farming in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The national placemaking project Michael Carriere and I started back in 2009 is shifting from research to public engagement, with a second exhibition prepared and the book moving towards publication. In January, our exhibition Growing Place: A Visual Study of Urban Farming is opening at the Grohmann Art Museum, which situates Milwaukee’s contemporary urban farming movement in its history, drawing from archival photographs, documents, and contemporary artifacts. I’m especially excited about the programing we’re scheduling, including events with the Walnut Way Conservation Corps, Will Allen, and others. More details forthcoming!

Urban Farm Aerial

Hmong Farmer at Fondy Market

Belfast, Northern Ireland

As I wrote earlier in the year, I made my fourth visit to Belfast, Northern Ireland in July to continue documenting the changing experience of Eleventh Night and The Twelfth. Among the new work I made this year was an aerial sub-project about the aftermath of the bonfires, which helps orient the work away from the specific moment of the events.

Burning the Children's Bonfire

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Rebuilding in Tōhoku, Japan

Last week I returned from Tōhoku, Japan, where I continued my work on the rebuilding process after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. I’ll be sharing more photographs in the next few weeks, but here are two favorite rephotography sequences and a building happily back in use in Ishinomaki. The rebuilding process is somehow overwhelmingly fast and slow.

2014, 2016, 2018

2014, 2016, 2018

Two Buildings

SKETCHES FROM ELSEWHERE

Camden, New Jersey

In Camden, New Jersey

Camden, New Jersey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Chicago, Illinois Region

Valentines in Whiting, Indiana

Iced Tree on Lake Michigan

Dublin, Ireland

The Gasworks

Ely, Minnesota

Ely

New Orleans, Louisiana

Ashton Theater

Paris, France Region

Les Espaces d'Abraxas

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Pool at the Row House

Reykjavik, Iceland Region

Icelandic Geothermal Pool

Hallgrimskirkja

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Camera Shop

San Diego, California Region

Solana Beach Transit Center

San Diego County Fair

Seattle, Washington

Oxbow Park

Olive Tower

St. Louis, Missouri

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Stockholm, Sweden

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Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo from Above

Isolated Tokyo

To 2019!

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The American Sociological Association held its annual meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this year, and I was excited to return. I spent a lot of time in Philadelphia in the 1990s and early 2000s and was surprised to figure out that the last time I’d been in the city was 2009. Back then, I was just starting to work on The City Creative, so in between presentations I wanted to follow up with the communities surrounding several of the Mural Arts Philadelphia installations. The following photographs are favorites from that group, from a Philadelphia Gas Works gasometer to the view of the skyline from Camden, New Jersey.


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After the Eleventh Night Bonfires

Belfast, Northern Ireland’s Troubles are discussed in the past tense. After all, 2018 is the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and the open war that left more than 3,500 people dead has drawn to a close. But the peace building process is a long one, and commitment to peace is not universal.

Part of my long-running project in the city has been to understand how the peace process is both supported and undermined through place claiming activities, whether for an anti-sectarian youth soccer program or a Loyalist bonfire complete with an effigy of the Pope. Of course, the city’s infamous murals and peace walls demarcate neighborhoods, but so much of the conflict is more ephemeral.

This year I started a new part of the project to explore the duration of these fleeting contributions. After photographing on Eleventh Night, when loyalists burn massive bonfires to commemorate the 17th century battle that ensured the UK’s contemporary hold over Northern Ireland, I returned to the site of the bonfires a couple of days later to photograph what remained.

Below I include several 2018 bonfire images for context and then present selections from my new series. For additional photographs from the project, visit my Belfast, Northern Ireland gallery.

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AFTER THE BONFIRES

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

Bonfire Aftermath from Above

The Terrils of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin

Rising over the towns of the UNESCO-listed Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin are terrils, or spoil tips, human-made hills of mining debris more than 450 feet tall. During my recent trip to France to screen The Area and participate in RDV avec la Ville, I expanded my Hauts-de-France Mining Basin series with aerial images that highlight their context. The following images are a few of my favorites.

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St. Louis, Missouri

This May wasn’t my first time in St. Louis, but it was the first time I was able to actually get out into the neighborhoods. This post includes some of my favorite photographs from throughout the city, many of which are from its north side. While St. Louis has had a difficult 70 years, the north side has been particularly devastated by not only the typical story of racism, deindustrialization, and public housing demolitions, but also private developers like Paul McKee and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Numerous groups are fighting back. If you are interested in the history of the neighborhood displaced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, you check out these interviews.

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This mural, which used to read “End Eminent Domain Abuse,” has quite a history.

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The former site of Wendell O. Pruitt Homes and William Igoe Apartments (left), and the future site of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (right).

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Zion Lutheran Church (1860)

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PAGE AVENUE BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT

Murals by Better Family Life on the side of derelict buildings on Page.

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WATER TOWERS

St. Louis has three spectacular water towers from the 19th century, two of which are on the north side, Grand Avenue Water Tower (1871) and Bissel Street Water Tower (1885), and one south, the Compton Hill Water Tower (1898).

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Grand Avenue Water Tower

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Bissel Street Water Tower (left) and Compton Hill Water Tower (right)

DOWNTOWN

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Pet Milk Building (left) and St. Louis Parking Garage (right)

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Edison Brothers Building Trompe L’Oeil by Richard Hass (left) and Royal Dutch Shell’s Roxana Petroleum Corp. (right)

Special thanks to Claire Nowak-Boyd.

St. Patrick’s Day in New Orleans, Louisiana

In March, I was in New Orleans to participate in the annual Tulane School of Architecture Design Symposium and was happy to have some extra time to make new work. I’ll share images from an ongoing project later, but for now, I’ve included a few other favorites below. At the end is a small set of images from the most surprising moment of the trip: starting the day on a peaceful Magazine Street only to return at night to find it trashed by the Irish Channel Parade.


Ashton Theater
The Ashton Theater was designed by Ferdinand Rousseve, a prominent educator and civic leader who was Louisiana’s first African American architect. The theater opened in 1927 and closed in 1958.

Food Truck, Water Tower Star Bethel Baptist Church
The tower in the left photograph is one of two new water towers being constructed on the Sewerage & Water Board property to smooth out water delivery in the city.

Neighborhood Bar, Downtown

At Dusk

A March Santa Claus

MAGAZINE STREET AND SURROUNDS AFTER THE IRISH CHANNEL PARADE

After the Irish Channel Parade

After the Irish Channel Parade After the Irish Channel Parade
After the Irish Channel Parade After the Irish Channel Parade

After the Irish Channel Parade