Playground
Playground: 2024 – In collaboration with John Wooden.
From 1962 to 1972 I lived in Mayfair, a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia. Built during the post WWII period, the neighborhood includes narrow, one-way streets and a net of alleyways designed to accommodate off-street parking. The arrangement set basements at street level, allowing for a small patch of green space on each property.
These basic features were easily repurposed into play spaces by the neighborhood kids. Each image shows a specific place used for various kinds of play. The prosaic brutalism of the environment, with its raw beauty, was energized and enlivened by this inventive reuse. I wanted to show these spaces, from an early period, as play, or the act of playing, defines the spirit and life of the artist.
Hotel Window Series
Hotel Window Series: The environments recorded in this series are limited to views available through hotel windows during
periods of travel. In these single frame images and panoramas, the views are predetermined, removing
selectional obligation from the process. This grouping forms part of a set recorded through multiple visits
to China.
Removing the Interstate Highway: Speculative Fictions # 1
Removing the Interstate Highway: Speculative Fictions # 1
This is the first in a series of fictional works derived from photographic images. Here, an imaginary scenario is triggered by images taken during the demolition and rebuilding of Interstate 95 as it runs through Philadelphia’s northern river wards. In this narrative the highway is not rebuilt, allowing for the playing out of a cascade of positive (perhaps utopian) effects.
Against Government