The photographs in this project were taken in an abandoned house in Lorain County. When I found the house, most of the windows were broken, the paint on the walls was faded, dirty, and peeling, and there was rubble all over the floor. Strangely, there were miscellaneous objects scattered amongst the house that suggested that the house has been continually visited by humans, probably occasionally inhabited by squatters or transformed into a “hang out” spot by hunters, drunken teenagers, and more.
The main purpose of this project is to convey personalities in the objects, and to show a sense of personality in them.
What struck me the most was that the objects---whether they were jackets on hangers, boots, bags, radiators, or a photo on a nightstand---were left there by people. There was such a great contrast between these “living” objects and the decaying and abandoned condition of the house. I found myself wondering, “Why did someone leave these here?”, “Where have these objects been?”, and “What’s the story behind each object?” I hope that these photos inspire similar thoughts in the viewers of these photographs.
An example of this is how in one photo there is a star spangled curtain with a white radiator. It seems like whoever put it up was trying to be patriotic. One photo shows a nightstand with speakers, matches, tape, a cassette tape, and a picture of a family. It creates personality, imprinted from whoever lived there in the past.
What is interesting, though, is how the decay bleeds through into the objects. For example, in some photographs there was layers of dust coating some objects. The photograph with the coats on the coat hangers seems normal at first, as if it were a photograph of a house that still had inhabitants, yet a closer look shows cobwebs extending from the coats to the wall, showing the same sense of decay and abandonment.
