In researching for our posts about American suburban ranch houses and interior design in the 1970s, I delved headlong into the world of suburban utopias--and dystopias. The American suburban dream is rife with paradox (community vs. isolation; the dream of ownership vs. the tragedy of foreclosure; the promise of space vs. the domination and destruction of that space, and so on).
It is easy to mock and belittle suburbia but it takes a lot of skill to approach these themes with a critical but compassionate eye. These photographers, in my mind, succeed. And my own personal dream is to be able to get my hands on one of these photographs to hang in my own home.
Shown above:
• 1 & 2 Carolyn Drake. Carolyn Drake is an award-winning documentary photographer whose work has been supported through grants from the Fulbright Scholar Program and National Geographic and honored by UNICEF and the National Press Photographers Association. She is now based in Istanbul, Turkey but grew up in Greenbelt, Maryland. For purchasing information contact Carolyn at Carolyn@carolyndrake.com.
• 3 Christopher Gielen Christopher Gielen's photography "probes quality-of-life standards in the context of urban growth and development." Many of his photos, like this one, are taken from helicopters, and often at night. Gielen grew up in Germany and lives and works in New York City and in Bonn. For more information, contact Daniel Cooney Fine Art.
• 4 Todd Hido. Hido's photographs, taken at night, depict "anonymous suburban dwellings with their windows glowing in the soft darkness...Throughout these color images there is an unsettling feeling of isolation and unease. Hido captures a haunting suburbia through the absence of people and the careful modulation of light and color." Hido's first book, House Hunting was recently published by Nazraeli Press. Available through various galleries, including the Bruce Silverstein gallery (212) 627-3930 or through the Stephen Wirtz Gallery in San Francisco
• 5 Gerald Edwards III http://www.sofarfromshore.com/projects/bellum-hotel-city/ mentored under Gregory Crewdson for many years. His work deals with "the reconstruction and fabrication of histories" through composited large-format photos.
Images: as linked above
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that last photo is hilarious
the 3rd reminds me of the theme song to "Weeds" -- "and theyre all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same..."
Is it weird that I find #4 kind of cozy?
Bill Owens, the grandaddy of the genre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Owens_%28photographer%29
the last one??????????
I love these photos. AT should do more articles like this showcasing a photographers work. :)
@h144 I agree! I was hoping he would mentioned.
Number 3 makes me so sad. So many suburbs look the same way from the sky. Tons of houses crammed onto land with little consideration of natural feature or the function of the community. The form itself tells the viewer everything you need to know about it. And it's sad. :(
@h144: Yes, thank you for the reminder! Bill Owens is amazing and certainly the granddaddy of this genre. Everyone should check him out.
-Catrin
"Little Boxes" was written long before "Weeds" by Malvina Reynolds (1900-1978).
She wrote it in 1962, when Suburbia was still little boxes, and not nightmare concoctions of Psuedo Spanish Rococo piled on top of Drywall Renaisance with a 3 car garage and a 2 car fireplace. The latter, so the dwellers can inhale carcenogens, while both imagining that they are both very "green" and 18th cent Lower English Gentry.
Malvina wrote the song as a political protest. Despite her trying to sound like fruit picking Oakie, refugee, she was a very crusty San Francisco Jewish socialist (what else?) with a sharp wit, and lots of charm. Listen to her sing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_2lGkEU4Xs
I was born in Chicago, raised in a small town with a lake in my backyard--- great for jumping off the pier and night time skating under the backyard floodlights--- back to the city for my young adulthood, out to the burbs (I agreed to go as long as I could see the John Hancock Building from my roof), and then back to a smaller, progressive city.
They all had their good and bad points. Home is what you make it.
Thanks -- but I never claimed that Little Boxes was somehow a new song... I said it's the theme song to Weeds...because it is. And by calling it as such, it would perhaps ring more bells to people than if I said "that Malvina Reynolds song" :)