Remaking a Utica Landmark
For this project, I am documenting Utica from a mostly objective perspective. Whether it derives from the people I meet on its streets or its abandoned storefronts, Utica continues to intrigue me. Utica, along with the rest of the Mohawk Valley, was once full of industry and jobs, which is clear from its numerous abandoned factories, but companies moved elsewhere or were forced to go out of business due to competition overseas. In 2016, based on seven factors including: adults with high school diplomas, unoccupied houses, poverty rate, income, net job gains or losses, net business gains or losses, and percentage of adults not working, Utica was ranked as the sixth most distressed city in the entire country. For this reason people are quick to dismiss Utica, and write it off simply as an impoverished city. On the other hand, it has a tight-knit community with flourishing local establishments, and can be a great place to start a family and live affordably. Like with most things in life, it is a matter of looking at the glass half full or half empty.
The camera is a vehicle of aesthetic truth and through the lens it absorbs the exact forms of the world around us. In each composition I am examining a cohesive relationship from a variety of colors, lines, shapes, and textures. I strongly believe in William Eggleston’s democratic approach of seeing, in which no single frame holds more importance than the next. Inspired by the detached and deadpan work of Bernd and Hilla Becher, in which structures like water towers and gas tanks become “anonymous sculptures”, I refrain from inserting a sense of subjectivity to my images. I am not a resident of Utica, so it would be dishonest and perhaps condescending to insert any sort of social commentary into the work. Instead I absorb my surroundings at face value and leave it to the viewer to make any sort of connections. Utica is full of surprises, and my work chronicles a casual walk along its streets which can often be so disjointed. Cities like Utica are are all over the country and often forgotten about.