Self-taught photographer John Barbiaux (b. 1982) returns to his roots for Life on Mars. The series is about a small town on the outer fringes of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which he began to see in a new light during 2020. “I traversed empty neighbourhoods where inanimate subjects – houses, cars, fences, lamp posts – took on an otherworldly presence. I was both an inhabitant and outsider in a place that felt familiar and strange.” The pictures are nostalgic, evoking stalwarts of 1970s American colour photography like Joel Meyerowitz or Stephen Shore. Lights shine out from behind closed windows, casting an orange-yellow glow onto freshly-cut lawns and wooden porches. You can’t help but wonder what is happening behind closed doors. “Initially, I shot the images with film and developed them in our kitchen sink. I wanted to continue creating the same vintage look, so I purchased a modern lens that uses a nearly identical design from the 1950s.” photolisticlife.com
Image credits:
1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Image courtesy John M. Barbiaux.
2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Image courtesy John M. Barbiaux.
3. Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Image courtesy John M. Barbiaux.
4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Image courtesy John M. Barbiaux.
5. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Image courtesy John M. Barbiaux.
6. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Image courtesy John M. Barbiaux.
7. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Image courtesy John M. Barbiaux.
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