From 2008-2009 I photographed unused commercial spaces in and around my hometown of Manchester, Connecticut. The images culminated in my Senior Thesis show at Fordham University in New York City. Initially focused on an abandoned shopping plaza in my hometown, it developed into a study of commercial buildings in the area sitting empty as new buildings were going up on previously undeveloped land.
My photographs also show how the buildings themselves are a form of branding. Although most of the signage is gone, several of the past businesses can still be recognized based on their buildings’ shape and design. These distinct designs make it even more difficult for the building to be reused.
Straightforward in composition and influenced by the New Topography movement of the 1970s, my photographs depict the enormous waste of space and material that is left behind when these vacant buildings are abandoned. I photographed the buildings straight on, using the literal and descriptive power of the camera to present the subject unadorned and un-manipulated. The images reveal the disposable nature of possessions and property in our culture and convey the pervasive conflict between man and nature, profit and environment.
