urban landscapes
In my latest 35mm photographs I attempt to capture the built environment through a layering of manmade structures and the natural landscape. In this collection of film photographs my goal is to explore the use of space across different cities. In each frame, evidence of human activity gives the viewer a sense of the space’s use. While elements like trees, water, light, or animals are representations of nature, my attention to the human environment can be seen in the large buildings, homes, cars, food stands, or abandoned junk, each testifying to a different use and time. While one picture of a Chicago alleyway with fire escapes trickling light down onto a commercial truck shows how the backstreets of downtown are used primarily by industrial facilities and appear less friendly to pedestrians, a photograph of Venice Beach pedestrians with its tall palm trees and bustling street vendors shows how this area of Los Angeles exists during the day, where vendors deconstruct and rebuild their tents daily. While I am constantly learning about my own existence within the clashing natural and human worlds, the stories told by each photo represent my obsession with understanding why certain spaces are sought or avoided and, more generally, why cities exist where they do.
