Like Job, I'm Waiting

In the vast prairie, it’s easy to become confined by the limitless terrain. These photographs unravel the secrets of the land and investigate the ways in which landscape shapes belief. Evoking wistfulness and melancholy, this collection of black and white photographs explores belief. Born into a fundamentalist Christian church and raised in the cold Midwest, I've sought to chart my way—and, in the process, create a path out of the wilderness for myself. The work was photographed at our family home and in the surrounding lands. In the photos, I've created a cast of characters who stand-in for my memories. This construct allowed me to imagine an alternative reality, where I'm still part of the fold and never left home. Through self-portraits, photos of my family, and rural landscapes, I've attempted to summon a world where religious rites are part of daily life, people are isolated, and only decay thrives. Even in the new world of my creation, the biblical story of Job rankles, providing a precedent for the possibility of total loss. What about this place provides the wellspring for these particular mythologies? I began to see parallels in the trees. Their roots penetrate deep into the ground and while they can be dug up and moved, their root systems remain. These photos embody the rhizomes of my family and their faith.