"The Architecture of Nowhere" Series Statement
In The Architecture of Nowhere Linda Kuehne explores the cultural implications of the man-altered landscape in suburbs across the United States. She grew up in a suburb outside of New York City. Even though it was only 50 miles from the city, her town had more in common with the suburbs of the Mid-West than it did the Northeast. Vast housing tracts with no town centers, no aesthetically pleasing architecture; very little culture to speak of—all led to a monotony and deadening of spirit that the artist wanted to escape. Originally she photographed the suburban landscape as a way to understand her impulse to flee the tight constraints of small-town living.
But it became much more than that when the recession hit in 2008. Upscale suburban towns, just like the inner cities of larger metropolitan areas like Detroit, were imploding. Storefronts were vacant with nothing to replace them even in affluent neighborhoods and towns that used to thrive. She has been photographing these changes ever since, returning to some of the same buildings over and over again, seeing little improvement. The communities seem to be living around a new reality of empty storefronts and abandoned buildings that do not go away.
The photographs in this series are captured digitally and presented as archival pigment prints in editions of 5. Print size is 24 x 34".