I've been researching the work of Walker Evans who is considered one of the greatest social documentary photographers of the 20th century. Although he abandoned the candid moments in the tradition of Henri Cartier Bresson, Evans would return to a place with a large format camera and capture the essence of our culture through the presentation of artifacts within the landscape.
Lloyd Fonvielle writes about Evan's work that is published by Aperture and describes it as a vision of American poverty that is unlike European poverty which had been romanticized in the work of Atget, but rather a "poverty of culture" whereby our architecture may refer to european style but is cheaply built in an industrial age by a young country that has chosen to litter the landscape with advertising in pursuit of the wealth of the "American Dream."
I have always been drawn to this type of imagery due to my own blue collar roots and family mythology of working, traveling, and working some more. As I look around Spokane I am fascinated by place names that reflect wealth, power, and happiness and yet are far from it. In neighborhoods of every kind we see the all too common white picket fence that illustrates our pursuit of the American dream, although if you look closer you see emblems of alternative beliefs and politics.
These photographs were taken primarily around Sunset Blvd, Government Way, and Inland Empire Way which connects Highway 2 and the Latah neighborhoods. I have included a couple of previous photos from the South Hill and the lower East Side along the Internet just to sparkle some extremities to my portrait of Spokane.
Sunset Blvd is a street filled with old motels and apartments that have been usurped by larger hotels near the airport. These photographs are like a cross between the Brat Pack 60's and Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Today these are often used as flop houses for a transient population. I also photographed the Latah neighborhood which runs along Inland Empire Way. This neighborhood is a modern reflection of the 20th century challenges for the working class. And finally to complete my patchwork quilt of Americana, I revisited some rural areas within a few of miles of our downtown core.
The final image is the last remaining film store in Spokane and seemed appropriate for this photographic project.
Lloyd Fonvielle writes about Evan's work that is published by Aperture and describes it as a vision of American poverty that is unlike European poverty which had been romanticized in the work of Atget, but rather a "poverty of culture" whereby our architecture may refer to european style but is cheaply built in an industrial age by a young country that has chosen to litter the landscape with advertising in pursuit of the wealth of the "American Dream."
I have always been drawn to this type of imagery due to my own blue collar roots and family mythology of working, traveling, and working some more. As I look around Spokane I am fascinated by place names that reflect wealth, power, and happiness and yet are far from it. In neighborhoods of every kind we see the all too common white picket fence that illustrates our pursuit of the American dream, although if you look closer you see emblems of alternative beliefs and politics.
These photographs were taken primarily around Sunset Blvd, Government Way, and Inland Empire Way which connects Highway 2 and the Latah neighborhoods. I have included a couple of previous photos from the South Hill and the lower East Side along the Internet just to sparkle some extremities to my portrait of Spokane.
Sunset Blvd is a street filled with old motels and apartments that have been usurped by larger hotels near the airport. These photographs are like a cross between the Brat Pack 60's and Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Today these are often used as flop houses for a transient population. I also photographed the Latah neighborhood which runs along Inland Empire Way. This neighborhood is a modern reflection of the 20th century challenges for the working class. And finally to complete my patchwork quilt of Americana, I revisited some rural areas within a few of miles of our downtown core.
The final image is the last remaining film store in Spokane and seemed appropriate for this photographic project.
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