Sidewalkscapes

Weathered concrete, asphalt and man-made interventions on the enviornment make up this series of abstract photos of strangely beautiful patterns and otherworldly scenes.

Over several years of photographing these eye-catching patterns on the ground, a series of ethereal “landscapes” grew. Creating each piece became a ritual I could get lost in; losing a sense of specificity, sometimes forgetting exactly where or when they were found. Many were photographed along a familiar loop in my suburban neighborhood. Something as simple as the existence, or sometimes lack of, sidewalk stirred reflections on the access these paths provide and determine. Where else could we be, or go? Who gets to decide? What does access really look like? What better futures can we imagine?

Sidewalkscapes reminds us to observe and savor small slices of our lives and our collective history. They represent places you’ve passed a hundred times or only once in your life. Playing with scale and light, some are as disorienting as they are comforting, each simultaneously unique but universal. It could be along a familiar and frequent route, that each day is subjected to gradual changes and wear. A passage of time is marked through layers on the concrete. The land shifts, creates cracks to be patched. 

Sidewalkscapes is a loving meditation that invites the viewer to pause and take notice of the patterns and rhythms of the otherwise mundane, while considering how connected we are to our surroundings and each other.