Idea Blog V - Urbanization

Urbanization

After last week’s meeting it  has become clear to me that in the development of my project there is  a new push.  I have always had an interest in the urban environment and the construction / deconstruction  which  evolves within the rapidly changing world.    I have an element of decay or aging in a-lot of my work.   Without any signs of decay how could we build context for what we are engaged with?  Decaying objects tell me a story.   They say ‘I have lived and seen the world.’  That’s what I am hoping to show through my imagery.   Brian Matiash loves “the adventure of photographing the frayed edges of cities: the forgotten corners, neglected side streets, and abandoned structures that are so easily dismissed.”  He also strives “to present the beauty in contradiction, to show the art in dereliction [1].”  Like Brian I am photographing objects that I think get ignored but have a beauty to them.  Each object I have to go and seek out and find because there is a constant  cycle of them being trashed or deteriorated.  In relationship to China’s urbanization  Edward Burtynsky comments “.. and doesn't production inevitably result in great waste and destruction of resources, at a scale never imagined in previous decades?”  It’s interesting to think about all the stuff we waste.   In particular what I  find interesting when shooting the furniture  is how good the condition  is of some of the stuff in the trash.   Why throw this stuff away if it’s still good? Is it just that people constantly feel a need  to upgrade, to have or become something better in doing so?  These are things that cross my mind as a continue to work on this series of images.

[1] "APC | Artistic Photo Canvas - I Use APC - Brian Matiash." Artistic Photo Canvas | APC - Your photos become canvas art!. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2010. <http://artisticphotocanvas.com/iuseapc/brian-matiash.html>.

[2] GRANDE, JOHN K. . "PHOTOICON INTERVIEW: Edward Burtynsky Manufactured Landscapes." PHOTOICON. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2010. <http://www.photoicon.com/piinterviews/103/>.