Have you ever stopped to look at just a small part of a thing?
Take houses for example. A house is full of complexity, from the foundation and inner structure, the heating and water pipes, to the different functions of the visible exterior.
On my way to another shoot back in March, I found a crazy old house. The whole place was beat-up and old cars were parked on the lawn. I particularly liked the weather-beaten old roof with a skeletal tree behind it. I liked it, so I shot it.
I didn't think much of the image until I started working with it, then decided to make a
Van Dyke Brown print out of it in the darkroom. The lone rooftop soon became several, and a series was born. The personality of all the different houses drew me in, and the particular effect of seeing just the top - away from the doors and lawns where you expect to see people - seemed to turn the houses into beings in their own right. Alive, but empty by themselves.
The prints are the final product, and you can see them right now at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU in Provo. They are housed in an exhibit on the 1st floor of the atrium with work from several of my classmates. After June is over, the next chance will be in August in Ephraim (details forthcoming).
Until you can see it for real, here is one digital version. It looks quite a bit different in person.
