Matthew Portch
Lost America | examines a quiet stillness in a forgotten landscape that is, in a sense: ‘on-pause'. Backwater towns and rural corners are juxtaposed against the ambiguity of isolated suburbia. Spaces appear frozen in time, their inhabitants absent or long since departed. Some places have become a worn-out reminder of when America was building a brighter future. Other parts have thrived, displaying antithetical wealth and comfort. And for those, secluded in their untouchable hamlets; everything is just as it should be.
Ardently stagnant in their appearance, the images aim to unlock a moment of reflective contemplation and instil a melancholic feeling of familiarity. Lost, in some respects that this is a part of the everyday landscape in America; the humdrum, the ordinary. Not always immediately conspicuous, one might not notice or acknowledge them at all, especially when viewed within the vast stretch of America's vista. Yet, when confronted with a single framed vignette, these spaces can appear to echo a moment of mournful reverie. Or, for some, they might just behold an alluringly sombre, still, abiding impression. www.mattportch.com
