Consumerism in Crisis: Brian Ulrich's Captured Photos - Essay Sample

Introduction

The series of photos that had been captured by the photographer Brian Ulrich was triggered by the fluctuating economy within the American consumer index (Amon, 2016). The period was marked by a wavering economic climate that had prevailed for a long time hence sending signals to the economy of the country regarding the impending predicament. From the arrangement of the series of the photographs at the Cleveland Museum of Arts, the coloring of the photographs portrays unique features that closely relates to an anonymous commercial excess in various venues (Amon, 2016). The photographs have been captured in a vicious cycle that follows the consumerism changes that followed after the economic surge that faced Americans in the past decades.

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Despite being engrossed by multiple saccharine colors alongside limitless temptation towards the stores of the big boxes, the series of photos depicts discarded whimsies of thrift business units that occurred as a result of the downward movement of the economy index of the region (Amon, 2016). From the arrangement of the photos in the museum, the phases of the photos portray a lack of consumers while channeling on the availability of ghost stores alongside dark shopping malls that were triggered by the previous financial crisis.

For instance, the photographs of the dead malls and ghost boxes resulted from the American decade long investigation regarding the citizens' psyche traces on domestic consumption. The photos trace the route of the oversupply of products to the balked architectural landscapes that resulted in a permanent closure of malls and abandoning the parking spaces. The empty parking spaces sent signals to the business operators of the upcoming predicament within the region. Therefore, the photographer must have possessed a higher profile on touring the nation due to the understanding of the architectural landscape that was very evident in his pictures. The photographer must have extensively toured most of the American States to provide a comprehensive document of the shoppers within the enclosed malls, which were on the verge of stopping operations.

Also, the abundant navigation of the goods that the photographer depicts on his photos means that he used hand-held cameras that had extensive viewfinders that were fixed at the level of waists. Thus, he was able to create a clear image of people that were shopping with the malls during the dropping economy. It means that Ulrich was interested in creating thrifts within the stores, which was the principal destination of the developing part of the country's total population during the wake of the 2008 financial crisis (Amon, 2016). The Dark Malls photos majorly focused on the workers who attempted to re-energize the dropping economy that resulted from the influx of unwanted consumer products. The photographer maximized the use of large-format view to create a richly detailed photograph that would be used as a reference to the period of an economic recession that was experienced in the country. Besides, Ulrich had sensed an incoming economic recess, and so, he captured haunting landscapes and abandoned buildings to portray the impending predicament that would follow after the problem.

From the photographs of the Ghost boxes, Ulrich's wide-ranging exploration regarding the consumers' culture in the USA was majorly triggered by the concept of retail and thrift. The argument is evident from how the photographer documents the buying habits of in different classes of households in the USA. The photos contained the buying habits portrayed by the middle and lower classes that, in turn, gives a clear overview of the historic boom regarding the matters of consumption. The shots captured at the bottom heights of the malls represent the groceries that were closed as a result of the economic recession (Amon, 2016). They sent signals of the predicament at length, which in turn gave the necessary insights on how the public would prepare to face the situation.

The way the Ulrich captured Dark Stores photographs portrayed the epic burst which the country was bound to face due to the depreciated economy. The pictures of the stores are decorated by strips of asphalt below them and bounded by night sky ribbons to appear like a Rothko decoration. The paintings of the pictures were triggered by the fact that the recession periods had deprived major retail stores of the content hence exposing the country to a great economic resurgence.

Similarly, the third cycle of Copia which represented the period of "Dark Stores, Ghost Boxes, and Dead Malls" was triggered by Ulrich's suspicion of the incoming economic recession that would leave the streets of America with scouting dead malls and expired business units that would drastically uncover the already developed commercial real estates within the region. The photography activities were also triggered by the level of understanding that the photographer had in the terrain of the regions that were greatly hit by the economic menace.

On balance, the preliminary interpretations of the series of photographs reveal the portrayals and activities that triggered Ulrich to take the photos. It is therefore evident that the photographer was triggered by the signals that the movement of the country's consumerism had recorded in the past decades. Besides, the allowance that the photographer had from one of the Guggenheim fellowship facilitated his devotion to creating a library of the past experiences that the country had undergone.

Reference

Amon, S. (2016). Brian Ulrich: The Centurion. https://afterimage.ucpress.edu/content/ucpaft/43/5/20.full.pdf