Print for Infringement Festival

Tuesday I headed to the studio to make my print for the Buffalo Infringement Festival. The Print is almost 12' long and is a composite of 110 vacant lot photographs. You can get a better look at it during the festival at Wasteland Studios (700 Main St. 2nd Floor). 7/27 7-10pm, 8/3 and 8/4 7-9pm

Outtakes

These photos that I take in addition to the vacant lots are about the experience of walking through the neighborhoods.

Piles

Over the Past two weeks of shooting I have noticed several lots with piles of ruble, dirt, or clay left over from demolition. I spoke with a women living next to 92 Milburn. She hoped I was working for the city and was going to get rid of the clay piles in the vacant lot. "Every other vacant lot gets grass, we get clay." She said. While this statement is not exactly true, as you can see below. From what I have seen this summer any recently vacated lots have only a few weeds growing on them.

Worse then no real grass is these piles. Lots unable to move forward and become useful. Why was this debris left here and not carted of to the landfill, or was it dumped here well after the house was torn down. Now it waits for a reason to be cleaned up.

179 Jewett

67 Loepere

71 Milburn

92 Milburn

Bailey Ave Overpass

Of all the places I have been this week the vacant lots along the Bailey Ave overpass near Broadway was the most eerie. The quiet affected me and invoked an apocalyptic feeling more than any other neighborhood I have shot in. The bridge was built to ease back-up caused by the railroad crossing. Car culture at its most destructive. Like many progressive projects meant to move the city forward it disregarded the residents whom lived in proximity. Many of the houses have been torn down already with another one trucked off to the landfill this week. It seems the fate of these houses was sealed the day construction began. 

Three house are left facing the bridge and only one is occupied. The other two are in very rough shape as you can see above and will probably be gone soon. The only access to houses was the narrow sidewalk up against the bridge.

The hole that the city left, this was taken one day after demolition. I wonder how long it will be like this.