In a society filled with digital technology and focused on progress, old processes, techniques, and structures are being abandoned. It is abandoned structures in particular that have had a big influence on me. When I look at abandoned structures I get a feeling of nostalgia. I can appreciate the condition they once were in. At one point in time someone was proud to say that they built or owned it. People had an intimate connection with the structure they were building, because it was an accomplishment.
Through my photographs I want to show that the decaying structures are more than a decaying piece of metal or brick. I have focused on the new textures and shapes that are created by decaying material. Throught the decay, organic and other man made material is gained and lost similar to a evolving piece of artwork that is constantly in flux.
I am influenced by the popularity of the mobile phone application called "Instagram". This application uses photographstaken on a smart phone and stylizes it to mimic a vintage photographic process. The look that this application gives photographs, I believe is a misrepresentation of the physical processes they aim to recreate digitally. Though photographers widely use new technology, we often manipulate it to recreate vintage photographic styles.
I am also influenced by the compositions and subject matter in Walker Evans work. Evans was best known for his work documenting the effects of the great depression that he did for the Farm Security Administration. The subject matter in Evans photographs has pushed me to photograph in black and white and make my prints in a way to show the affects of time on man made structures.
Since all of the subjects in my photographs represent decaying or obsolete structuresI photographed the entire series using 35mm film. Also I developed the negatives in cafenol (instant coffee, vitamin C, and sodium carbonate), and print on watercolor paper using platinum-palladium process. Fewer and fewer people are taking the time to photograph with film, and I want my process to reinforce the idea of abandonment. From taking the first photograph to the final print I wanted everything to be executed in a "non-contemporary" process.