These recent works are inspired from my travels across America’s southwest and, in particular, the desert regions. The collection ‘Gold and Ghost Towns’ features buildings and structures from the historic gold rush towns of California and Arizona. These towns were abandoned decades ago and, while preserved, are in a state of constant ageing where the wooden buildings slowly deteriorate in the harsh desert landscape.
Each piece is relatively small and printed in black only, stripping the image down to its basic structure with marks, forms and shapes creating the mood. Their small size makes them perfect for hanging in multiples – adding to the impact of the subject matter.
To capture the sense of light from the hot desert sun, each piece has been created with a broken-up sky, intended to look as if the subject is radiating with heat. Another recurring feature of this collection of work is the mix of Polaroid and old tin type style edges to each print – a nod to the past and the image being captured in the moment.
All of the techniques employed aim to create the feeling of dust, deserts and decay.
All prints are printed using vegetable oil based inks onto 190gsm off-white acid free paper with editions limited to 100 prints.