Artist Statement

The ephemeral portraits in Popular Attractions focus on crowds at sun-soaked fairgrounds, beaches and baseball games, capturing a sense of nostalgic Americana that many of us get lost in but hardly look at with any distance. Crowds gather around the rodeo and the smoke of fireworks stirs up a halcyon haze over a grassy field—all eyes are fixed in a stare at the spectacle before them. The images from Popular Attractions are focused on the people doing the staring. The viewer becomes a quiet observer who has snuck his way into the hullabaloo of American celebrations and rituals: a street parade, a day at the beach, a backyard barbecue.