The consumer and the second life
Photographer Brian Ulrich, born in NORTHPORT NY explores not only the everyday activities of shopping, but the economic, cultural, social, and political implications of commercialism and the roles we play in self-destruction, over-consumption, and as targets of marketing and advertising (his personal statement). Focusing on the middle class and their reliance on big box-malls and the hyper reality of flourescent lighting, he is what Eggleston is to rural america to the average consumer, documenting soceity’s mass homogenization.
Beyond that he explores the second life of objects that have been disgarded, re-appropriated, and re-forgotten in america’s mad dash towards modernity. While he may not be presenting the most profound material, I can’t help but awknowelge his proclivity towards organization and a linear aesthetic, two things I find very comforting my my own photography.
Brian Ulrich in his series, Copia
Brian Ulrich, Untitled (From thrift stores)
Brian Ulrich, Lyndhurst, OH 2004, 2005
