'Archaeology of the American Dream' Exhibit by Photographer Brad Phalin Featured at UC Clermont Gallery

Archaeology of the American Dream by northern Ohio photographer Brad Phalin is now on display in the UC Clermont College Art Gallery through May 23. Phalin invites you to explore through his lens - the beautiful and broken imagery that he’s captured during his eight year ‘photo safari’ where he photographed 3000 homes in 20 states.  
 
“…As I stepped through the rooms, I felt welcomed, almost like a long-lost relative. The place had spirit and the significance of this discovery not only engaged my intellect, but my heart as well, because a home engenders universal empathy,” said Phalin an award-winning photojournalist whose work has been published in numerous national publications including Popular Photography, Phoenix Magazine, Bird Watchers Digest and Nikon advertisements.
 

Many of the homes Phalin photographed were mere shells, containing nothing. Others have some sign of former habitation - a patch of wallpaper, a sink or a ceiling fixture. And then some are filled with possessions, personal things that retain an element of the former inhabitant's self, an idea of how that person once lived and the spirit of place that existed.

Archaeology is the systematic study of past human life and culture by the recovery and examination of remaining material evidence. “I have been poking through the rubble and remains of a much more recent culture, our own, searching for shards of the American Dream,” said Phalin.

These photographs are meant to challenge the viewer, for they reveal both the achievement and the loss of the American Dream simultaneously. The abandoned house is meaningless, but by allowing it to ‘tell its story’ through photographs, it becomes meaningful once again. This project documents the human capacity and zeal to possess a living space and to make it uniquely our own, according to Phalin.

The artist work has been exhibited in the Toledo Museum of Art, Larson Gallery in Yakima, Wash.; Walter E. Terhune Gallery in Toledo; Lakeland Community College in Mentor, Ohio; and Bowling Green State University Fine Art Galleries.

Meet the artist during his closing reception on Friday, May 23, from 12–1 p.m. in the art gallery.

The art gallery is sponsored by Park National Bank and located in the Snyder Building on the UC Clermont College campus in Batavia at 4200 Clermont College Drive. Hours are Monday – Thursday 7:30 a.m. – 7 p.m., Friday 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. The exhibition and reception is free and open to the public.