Description
We conducted this shoot in two trolley cars that had been set together as a dwelling after retiring from transit service in 1930s Charleston, South Carolina. After the American Civil War, the town’s streets were lined with iron tracks for the cars, which were initially horse-drawn. The last year that Charleston used electric streetcars for municipal transport was 1938. At the time of this shoot, the cars were in a vast, desolate vacant lot. The cars had suffered years of vandalism and have since been removed from this location to be restored as a historical display. The setting provokes thoughts of what experiences and sights, including photography, must have happened in and around the cars over many generations.
From my Industrial Nudes theme. This collection of images sets the nude form against unnatural environments of concrete, chrome, mechanization, and grit. The series contemplates the contrast between the mechanical and the organic, the clean and the gritty. Even the strongest human body is slight and delicate when compared to the rigid, bulky elements of the industrial backdrops. It is, at its base, a commentary that compares an idealized “human as an animal” to humanity’s perpetual expansion into nature. This theme celebrates beauty and achievement by showcasing icons of mechanization in conjunction with the splendor of the human form.
