For my final project in Documentary Photography, I intend to document and photograph modern ruins, or structures abandoned through the process of urban decay. I want to photograph spaces where it is evident an edifice once stood, but that has now been torn down or is crumbling due to depopulation, economic hardships, or abandonment. I’m fascinated with the mystery of places: who once inhabited them and how with the building of a structure came hope and purpose. I’m curious as to the reasons and history of why places and structures that once thrived are left to waste away.
My methodology in this project will be to scout out locations and visit them at different times of the day in order to capture the different feelings the changes in daylight brings. I also intend to research the history of the areas of town where I find these structures in hopes of finding out their history and perhaps why they perished. I also plan on seeking out structures that may be scheduled for demolition. Some photographers whose work is in a similar vein, and that I have been looking at are: are Joel Sternfeld, Robert Polidori, and Matthew Merret.
It is my hope that with my final images I can (to borrow from a song) show that there is “beauty in the breakdown” as well as enlighten the viewer on how and why these places are now derelict.
