Remember This House

01 January 2025

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
- James Baldwin

Remember This House is a visual allegory interpreted through the lens of vintage Polaroid cameras and expired instant film. Imagined, staged, and photographed in the Summer of 2012 at the former West 24th Street studio of Richard Avedon, with additional images from Hotel Chelsea (West 23rd Street), and the surrounding neighborhoods.

The setting is Hotel Chelsea with a cast of three characters whose temperament are that of New York City - tough, kind, and smart. A mass of antlers speaks to the shedding of past seasons and power; while masks act as shields, protection, and transformation. The raw, rough-hewn beauty of the objects are presented as a supporting cast, echoing the spirit of the hotel and city.

Remember This House speaks to the spectrum of the human experience, while weaving themes of subtle regret, melancholy, reflection, and emotional realization.

This online presentation previews the first twelve images from the project Remember This House -  selected from approximately one hundred photographs executed in 2012, printed in 2025. The unique 4 1/2 x 3 2/5 inch Polaroids were scanned with the frame (image 2); cropped to the image size 3 1/8 x 3 1/16 inches (image 1); and printed up to 10 times their original size.

1. Untitled 31

2. Untitled 31, Scanner bed image

3. Untiled 31, Detail