Love Canal was a toxic waste dump cum community development gone devastatingly awry. It was home to the first mass-media publicized movement about chemical pollution and its incredible effects on nature and the human body. It’s significance years later lives on considering its not too far off from what still goes on all around us today.
Roughly twenty minutes or so west of Niagara Falls, researching Love Canal was how I spent my college thesis. For one year (and more than that really) I was inundated in creating a retrospective about the site. The finished product resulted in nine super-sized panoramas, seven detail shots, permitted use of period aerial photographs, and a book explaining the drawn out catastrophe. The entire work was shot on 35mm film and probably was the last work I recorded as such.
Steven Kobasa, a local writer, came across my work at a City-Wide Open Studios a few years ago. An acquired taste, indeed, we connected through my work and kept in touch. Stephen has recently invited me to exhibit one of the pieces in an upcoming art show (the entry’s featured image), which is why I’m showing it to you today. It’s strange to only show one, but in a way I feel comfortable considering the theme of the show itself.
The photograph above is entitled “Demolished Duplexes” and is now ironically flanked by a newer development of senior housing. The creepy thing about Love Canal is that it actually held up its blueprint quite well. They still mow the grass and the street lights still work. And all the homes you find sporadically placed are people who decided to stay.
This work meant quite a bit to me, so I invite you to observe more on my Flickr site. This also includes a more detailed understanding of why.
More information about the exhibit (if you’ll be in the New Haven area, of course!).
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10 Responses to At the Edge of Things
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These were some of the first photos you showed me and as they are now, when I first viewed they are striking. The surrounding enviroment provides a desolate, eery beauty; then the backstory kicks in and the sadness becomes even more apparent. You did a great job capturing all of the elements involved and I hope everyone who views the work appreciates it as well. Seeing first hand is believing, but for those who can’t, this series does it pretty darn good justice.
just by looking at the empty field, one would never know it was actually a toxic dump place! thanks for sharing
interesting wide angle, i love light and natural contrast
This sounds really interesting. You should post more about it.
I’d like to learn more to… e.g. was the hazardous waste removed? do the folks still live in the midst of a noxious atmosphere.
It sounds a like a worthwhile project that you completed Jess – and this is an enigmatic image (nicely shot) image that has a clarity and neat cleanliness that belies the poison…
That was quite a while back, but I remember it. Why oh why would anyone still live there.
What a powerful and meaningful piece of work. Love Canal was such a horrifying story. Amazing that they’ve been able to re-build.
I remember “Love Canal”, such an ironic name. Can’t believe anyone decided to stay. In this case it’s true, a picture is worth a thousand words. Good to know it hasn’t been forgotten.
I like the composition, and it reminds me of certain areas of New Jersey. Places where you knew something existed at one point, and then just disappeared.
Wow. I wish I could have seen the original exhibit! It sounds intriguing.
Hope you are well, Jess. It’s been awhile!