Somewhere in the Middle

After graduation from university, I left the Midwest to pursue employment on the East Coast. With time, I adapted to the Northeast but maintained connections to the culture and people “back home”. Until the election of 2016, I thought I knew the Midwest, and thus, myself.

But “post-Trump”, I felt so out of touch with the place enshrined in my heart. Upon retrospection, I realized that it had been decades since I traveled extensively in the US. There were many states to which I had never ventured; several in which I was fearful to travel. I started to see the outlines of my personal bubble and identity dissonance.

During the last two years, I have wound my way through 20,000 miles of small towns dotting state highways and rural routes in the traditionally defined Midwestern states. The scenes presented in this work are viewed through the eyes of a prodigal daughter who is gradually re-discovering her former home; a place that is, by turns, filled with quiet beauty, sorrow and history.

The question of the struggle between nature and the built environment is ever more central in urban life. In these images, relaxed beachgoers find themselves amidst carefully composed urban settings in front of dramatic skies. They are searching without seeming to find what they are looking for.  Peaceful moments of strolling along the beach or standing listening to the waves while choosing the perfect spot to sit down, are inevitably infused with tension and frustration. The beach becomes rising tides, threatening the very foundation of the city.

The clash of nature and city results in an absurd profusion of visual noise and little relief. The resulting images lay bare challenges to both my urban fantasy and to city planners, and the problematic nature of the future that lies ahead for humanity and the planet.