Course of Empire, Ghost Towns of Arizona
limited edition prints of photographs, 2008
Arizona's ghost towns are monuments to man's courage, tenacity and perhaps even foolishness in his search for wealth. Whatever their design, intent or purpose, when their existence was no longer profitable they slipped into the category of ghost towns; the inevitable by-products of the developments of gold, silver, copper, and other mineral deposits in Arizona.
Course of Empire, Ghost Towns of Arizona is a limited edition of prints from photographs taken while I was road tripping with a friend through California and Arizona in 2006.
The title alludes to the work Thomas Cole, a 19th century English painter who settled in America and is thought to be the founder of the Hudson River School. This ghost town is called Ruby and at the time I visited had a population of 2, one being a rather scary man by the name of Sun Dog. The town is located about 15 miles off the highway, close to the Mexican border town of Nogales. To get there was a treacherous drive on a non-maintained road up a mountain, during which I finally realised why people are so keen on 4-wheel drive cars. I'd hired the "compact" any driving any faster that 10 miles an hour the car would skid all over the place.
There are wonderful stories of the town, and a number of particularly grizzly murders took place in the post office. The Landowner is hoping to get a grant to develop the town for tourism and the current population is there to try to preserve it by preventing travelers moving in. After charging us $12, making us sign a disclaimer as in places the ground occasionally caves-in due to the honeycomb sub-structure from the mining activities; Sun Dog told a story of how the town had been squatted in the 70’s, finishing up with “See the old prison down there? That’s where I keep ma guns”. We were told to leave by sunset…
The original photos have been heavily manipulated in Photoshop through a process of colouring, masking, layering, blurring and hinge on pixelation. This “romanticizes” the image. In making my appliqués, I start by making sepia images in a similar way as a sketch of the final work.
I wanted the prints to relate in scale to 19th century ink drawings made by artist's taking the Grand Tour and also to early photography of the American West. In this way, the prints expose the ghost towns as romantic constructions, which is what they have now become through story telling and tourism. The images of the ruined adobe buildings are reminiscent of the ancient European cities; Rome, Athens, Pompeii, and also of bombed buildings in Iraq and Afghanistan, hence the title, Course of Empire.
Rowena Dring 2008
This series of 20 images, each in an edition of 4 with 2 a.p. printed with pigment ink onto photo rag paper. For information about availability please contact either rowenadringinfo@gmail.com or rahn@rahncontemporary.com.