At Builtworks, we take delight in cities and the ever-changing backdrop of the human-altered landscape.
And we’re curious about how this built world is used; fascinated by the complexity and contradictions of contemporary civilization.
Photographing place grants us a free license to poke around.
And be nosy.
It’s a language for asking questions about the world, prompting moments of pause and reflection, reactivating the circuits of attention, and introducing a new sensitivity to everyday places and landscapes.
Naturally, whenever we’re in cities, we’ll visit their landmark buildings, structures, and places.
We think about their contribution to the culture.
And why they are important to people.
But we’ll also avert our gaze from the monumental to observe what’s happening in places people actually live, work, and play.
So we venture beyond the majestic and spectacular found in cities, wandering into strange out-of-the-way places, the edgelands, and those scrubby little towns that you could pass through without even knowing their names.
The overlooked, the neglected, the forgotten, the odd little corners, and the still are often beautiful, revealing, and arresting in their own peculiar way.
A delicate grace comes from the gratuitous and unexpected beauty found in these marginal, interstitial places.
Our deep affinity with the built world resists aestheticization, regressive nostalgia, and contemporary consumerist culture; imagination is always expected to complement and broaden the field of our perception.
Freed from all conventions of architectural photography, we direct our gaze upon any-places-whatsoever; not held captive by spectacular monuments, aesthetically pleasing sites, or compellingly beautiful vistas.
Some of the pictures we make during our wanderings are shared below with longer-form photo essays published in the Picturing Place series of booklets.
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All Images © 2022 Jeff Gardner | Builtworks.com.au | All Rights Reserved.