the redux series is comprised of ten images photographed over the past two years of new suburban home construction in america. although it is derided for many reasons, suburbia is so well assimilated into the cultural lexicon of our psyche that it is now simply the acknowledged norm. There is something about these desultory expressions that cause me to wince and i wanted to take a closer look why. these ten images are my straight-on assessment of what is accepted between builders and buyers in the current marketplace.

With real estate as the easiest and most lucrative non-profession, it is no wonder that the last great open-land grab continues on unabated despite and overwhelming acknowledgement of the negative overall impact of this kind of unrestricted development. the architect-less, culturally generic products of the developer/builder in this income generated land and property speculation are a true reflection of the manifested aspirations of society.

it's as if there has been a tacit consensus that a quasi-colonial, mindless phenotypic variant should be the chosen design that is distended and repeated ad nauseam - that the concept of the single-family detached dwelling, the icon home, has been demographically shaped into a type that strives for the same set of floor plans and elevations that still make the garage the largest room in the house.

Try as i might to see the good and the beautiful it just appears to be getting uglier. I'll try again.

john kirchner

2007

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