What Is Left Behind — Stories from Estate Sales

For over a year I went to several hundred estate sales in Dallas, Texas, where I live. In addition to photographing at the sales themselves, I also bought many inexpensive items that I studied later with better lighting and backgrounds in my home studio.

Several themes have emerged from this work. The stark reality of life’s brevity pervades every estate sale, where children’s toys sit next to wheelchairs. Unique personal possessions tell the often poignant stories of people I never knew and could only wonder about. I also discovered knickknacks that offer fascinating commentaries on the culture and politics of the mid-twentieth century. Every weekend at just about every sale, I saw sadness, irony, history, and humor.