Artworks Gallery
Mar 9-April 11

In the summer of 2009, I worked as a “folder” at the Wild West Shirt Company.  This rather repetitive and mindless job coincided with the disintegration of the romantic expectations I held for the summer.  As I dealt with this disappointment, I found myself trapped in my own negative thoughts and feelings, and began to wonder how the other employees dealt with the gloom and boredom, which had set in for me after only a few weeks.  How did they contend, year after year with the same people, place, and shirt designs?

These questions provided me with a new lens as I interacted with the people and physical environment at Wild West and helped me to take notice of how employees visually and somewhat unconsciously expressed their feelings and thoughts in and on their physical work environment.  What I began to explore, and worked to capture in my photographs, was this rich and colorful canvass created by Wild West workers.

My intent for this collection of photographs is to illustrate how we as humans shape and impact our built environments, sometimes with careful thought and intension, but often in an unconscious or unknowing manner.  These afterthoughts of our labors have the ability to generate unique, interesting and visually aesthetic qualities. 

While my photographs lack human subjects, the human element is always present and credited with the creation of the landscape. The images in these photographs are clean, sharp, and straight, capturing the fine detail and subtle nuances of this physical environment.