Tag Archives: Travel

Transitions Between Here and There

My interest in the transformation of the built environment started with watching the razing of central Indiana farmsteads for suburban expansion in the early 1990s. These buildings, like the one below, became the subjects of my first landscape photographs.

Hamilton County, Indiana, 1994
Hamilton County, Indiana, 1994

While I typically work in urban areas now, I make an effort to spend time in the rural and transitional areas between Indianapolis and Chicago whenever I have occasion to leave the city.

Many of the same issues affect these areas as they did when I was learning about them in the early 1990s, but the region is more complex than it was then. Even with the recent recession, the rural edges are still pressured by suburban expansion, but a variety of other economic and geographic pressures demonstrate the changing rural landscape.

The area is dotted with vestiges of commerce, from familiar billboards and grain elevators to new forms of industry, including wind turbines and industrial agriculture property. Together, they introduce new pressures on longstanding concerns about exurban development while providing some hope against outmigration in truly rural communities.

With those brief thoughts as background, here are a few of my favorite photographs of the places between my former and current homes.

Indiana Hub Center Remington

Agribusiness at Night 3

Christmas Eve

Eagle Creek Cemetery

Stand

A New Rural Landscape

Otterbein Town Square

Sheridan, Christmas Eve

The Fowler Theatre

Basketball in Lebanon, Indiana

Transition: Suburban Development and Farm

Kyburz Auto Center Stage, Wind Turbines

Twin Kiss

Grain Elevator, Mobile Home

At Night

A Year of Photographing Elsewhere

There’s no question that 2010 was an unprecedented year for my fieldwork. In addition to many Chicago area opportunities, I visited nearly two dozen major U.S. cities and had the opportunity to spend time in Belfast, Northern Ireland during Twelfth Night. Each location allowed for several days in the field, so I’ve amassed quite a collection of photographs.

As a way of getting a handle on that work, I pulled out one favorite photograph from many of the locations I visited. A few were exhibited in my recent work shows at the Op Shop and Everyblock, as well as the “Considering the City” show at Work • Detroit, but one would have to consistently follow my flickr stream to see all of these images — so I thought I should share them here.

Atlanta, Georgia

Walking

Baltimore, Maryland

Perlman Place, Baltimore

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast Loyalist Bonfire Preparation, View #1

Chicago, Illinois

Residential Building, New Lights

Clinton, Iowa

Detroit, Michigan

Lit Sides

Indianapolis, Indiana

Skip's MARKET

Las Vegas, Nevada

Police Raid, Children Walking

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Running Through the Demolition Site

New Orleans, Louisiana

Davis Mortuary Service, Crescent City Connection

New York City, New York

Metal Recycling, Cooperative Housing, Bronx

Oakland, California

In the Glow

Phoenix, Arizona

Sunnyslope Mountain, Women Talking

San Francisco, California

Repairing

Sparta, Georgia

Hancock County Court

Washington, D.C.

Memorial, Anacostia Public Housing

Phoenix, Arizona

I recently visited the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area to work on projects with Danielle Wallace and Robert Kane, as well as continue working on the long term project on reimagining the built environment. The following photographs are some of my favorite supplemental images from the city. Additional photographs can be viewed on flickr.

UPDATE: The last image in this post is now available for purchase from Nova Gallery.

Residential Building, Skyline

Dog, Public Housing, Laundry

Training at the Grant Park Boxing Club

Trailer Park Laundry Room

Residence, Plane

Sunnyslope Mountain, Women Talking

Beware of Dog

Watering the Lawn

Playing at Sunset

Christmas Tree, Alley

A Few Images from the Bay Area

I recently visited the Bay Area for the annual meeting of the ASC and to continue work on another project, but I had an opportunity to do a little additional shooting while there. The following images are selections from those other opportunities in San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda. Additional images from this visit and another from 2008 are available on flickr.

Man Walking, Blimp

At Sundown

Professional

A Problem

Repairing

At the End of the Block

In the Glow

In His Shop

Residential, Industrial

Naval Air Station Alameda

From Above

Scale in the Bronx, New York City

I’ve just returned from a trip to New York City with Michael Carriere to work on our project exploring re-imagining the built environment. The following photographs are supplementary images from the Bronx. Some additional images are viewable on flickr.

Special thanks belong to Alex Chandler, Grace Madden, Lydia Bell, Sarah Nelson Wright, Melanie Jelacic and a variety of other helpful people.

Metal Recycling, Cooperative Housing, Bronx

Colin Powell Handball Wall

The Bronx

Scale

Public Housing in the Bronx, Manhattan

Woman Walking, Bona Pizza, Public Housing

Auto Repair,

Belfast on Eleventh Night and the Twelfth

View of Belfast, Burning Bonfires Throughout Protestant Neighborhoods

From July 10-14, I explored Belfast, Northern Ireland with Brian Ashby, Ben Kolak and some extremely helpful Belfast residents.

The weekend is particularly important to the region because of The Twelfth. The Twelfth is a day during which members of the Orange Order, composed of Northern Ireland’s Unionist Protestant population, march throughout the city to celebrate a historical Protestant victory over Catholics (and to achieve some contemporary objectives). Most controversially, they march through the city’s Republican Catholic neighborhoods in that spirit of victory. As one might expect, the marches are not received well in those neighborhoods, particularly given centuries of conflict and the more recent Troubles. As of July 15, riots continue.

The Twelfth is typically preceded by Eleventh Night, on which Unionist Protestants ignite massive bonfires throughout the city for historical and (as is clear in this photo set) very contemporary political reasons. Because the Eleventh Night fell on a Sunday this year, the bonfires were not lit until midnight on the Twelfth. As such, the marches were held just a few hours after the bonfires died down.

I’ve tried to set those events against a backdrop of the physical elements of Belfast that reflect the city’s often starkly segregated social landscape.

A selection of images are below, and you may also see additional images on my official Belfast series page or an unedited selection on flickr.

BBQ 11th 3PM

Unionist Bonfire, Aggressive Statements

"Prepared for Peace, Ready for War"

Burning Unionist Bonfire, Temporarily Boarded Up Homes

Watching the Bonfire Burn, Union Jack

Police Block off a Street in Advance of an Orangemen Parade

"End Sectarian Marches"

Orangemen Parade Marches Through Demonstration

"Peace Wall" Opened to Let Orangemen into a Protestant Neighborhood

Running from the Police Line

The Irish Flag on New Lodge High-rise