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about the miami project

This body of photographs explores the heightened sexuality, spectacle, and income-based disparities that exist in parts of this storied city. Miami is a city that wears socioeconomic status and sex appeal on its sleeve. Walk a few blocks down the street, and it's hard not to stumble across some elaborate photo shoot of a highly scripted moment meant to appear spontaneous. There is a rich tradition of feminine beauty competitions as well as testosterone-charged bodybuilding flex-offs. Exclusive hotel resorts account for a large portion of the city's industry. The project is about recording these spectacles.

statement about the work

My photographic process has always been about documenting people and place to create records of the ordinary - and, through that process, finding poetry within the mundane. Creating large-scale panoramic photographs allows me to show simultaneously details and relationships at multiple spacial and perceptual levels—for example, both the self-conscious way a young woman holds her hand by her side as she allows someone to photograph her, as well as her place in the sea of people around her engaged in a similar task. It allows me to show a sweeping view of the cityscape from a distance, while simultaneously revealing the fine details of the scales of a fish that a boy proudly displays for the camera.

The photographs are on average around 85 inches long (there is also a 44 inch long version). They are ultrachrome inkjet prints, printed on a Epson 9800. Generally I assemble 6 to 8 separate images in PhotoShop to create almost a 360 view.