Photography & Field Research Project with writer Marc Berdet. What is the relationship between the spectra of a Parisian convent , kidnapped heroines in gothic castles and loafer covered passages of Paris ? What is common among visitors to the Universal Exhibitions, players captivated by the neon lights of Las Vegas and onlookers fascinated by shopping malls? All are caught up in enclosed spaces saturated with fantasy, phantasmagoria. Trying to decipher these spaces as interpreting a dream, by superimposing their actual genesis and their mythical oppositions. For phantasmagoria contains within it the elements of its own negation. –taken from Marc Berdets text in Théorème *

This series of photographs was taken over three days I spent at the Mall of America in 2012. The final color images are printed on Fuji Flex with an ultra-high gloss finish which matches the visual aesthetic of the mall. When the images are displayed they are hung together in groups based on their location as well as various visual patterns that emerge both inside and outside of one of Americas largest shopping malls. Marc Berdet, who has studied and published several definitive books about Walter Benjamin, provided me with detailed maps of the mall and it’s various traffic patterns and suggested motifs from abroad as I spent three days photographing in and outside of the mall in Bloomington, Minnesota.

The photographs in this series were developed with writer Marc Berdet in support of his research into Walter Benjamin, portions of this was published in Théorème 21, Walter Benjamin special issue, 2014 from Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle. Book is available from the Publisher; https://psn.univ-paris3.fr/ouvrage/21-persistances-benjaminiennes

Photographs from this series were shown at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany.

KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany, 2012.

Walter Benjamin in the Mall of America, installation view, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany. Various sizes, 2012.

Walter Benjamin in the Mall of America, installation view, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany. Various sizes, 2012.

Walter Benjamin in the Mall of America, installation view, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany. Various sizes, 2012.

Walter Benjamin in the Mall of America, installation view, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany. Various sizes, 2012.

Walter Benjamin in the Mall of America, installation view, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany. Various sizes, 2012.

KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany, 2012.