A couple years ago some friends and I stumbled upon a compound of abandoned houses up the street from my parents’ house (Menifee, CA). The first time we explored the site I pretty much fell in love with the houses. So much of the main house was incredibly preserved, jars were still stored in the kitchen cupboards and clothes still hung in the closets. It wouldn’t have been so weird to me if the clothes and dishes were modern, even slightly modern, like from within the past 10 years, but they were clearly from the 60’s. Old baby shoes, a baby’s hospital bracelet and toys were scattered throughout the rooms as well. These items seem important and it still baffles me that someone would just leave them behind. I’ve gotten pretty comfortable snooping around the house, digging in purses and reading letters left behind. I’ve found some really amazing stuff like vintage jewelry and letters packed with deep emotion notifying the family of the loss of a loved one.
{here are some of the images I have shot inside of the main house}
Most of the clothing left behind seemed to belong to the woman of the house, who I came to find out was named Elizabeth. I wonder about her a lot, and what could of caused such a quick departure that she left behind her purse still filled with her personal possessions. After photographing the house and all of its changes over the past 2 years I really wanted to take it a step further. I decided to remove Elizabeth’s clothing from the house, clean them, wear them and then play her in a series of photographs. Over the years I have developed all of these ideas about her personality so it wasn't too difficult getting into "character". I’m really happy with how the images have come out so far and am really looking forward to continuing the project.
{one of the weirdest parts of the project is that her clothes and shoes fit me perfectly}
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