See: Bankrupt Offices
By Diana Jou - Jun 18th, 2008 at 11:00 am
“At the beginning of 2001, I started taking pictures of recently abandoned offices and the things people had left behind. This project was more than photography for me. It was economic archeology. America has not suffered such a vertiginous economic collapse since the 1930’s, and I wanted to document the human cost while it was happening. There is something very strange about walking into a recently abandoned office. The heavy, Pompeii-like stillness, punctuated only by the occasional sound of the air-conditioning turning itself on. A coat-hanger waiting patiently for a coat. A limp ‘happy birthday’ balloon on the floor. A drawer stuffed with take-out menus. Everywhere, signs of life, interrupted.” - Phillip Toledano, photographer.
Check out his books.
Very nice work - but the statement “America has not suffered such a vertiginous economic collapse since the 1930’s…” Mr. Toledano obviously didn’t live through the horrible recessions of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, when unemployment bellied up to 10%, interest rates were in the 20% range, and inflation was very high. What is the unemployment rate now, 5.8%? That’s a collapse? In any case, documenting the human cost of a painful downturn is valuable and affecting.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:07 pmThe unemployment rate is highly manipulated by political demands, and has been for sometime. Comparing the unemployment rate from the 1930s with the reported unemployment rate of today is meaningless, because they are measuring two different things. (For instance, the federal government doesn’t include people that can’t work, or they determine aren’t looking for work.)
In any case, these are great photographs, thanks for sharing.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:52 pmhow’d he get into these bldgs?
June 19th, 2008 at 10:52 pmI was a victim of Jack Welsh’s re-making of GE in 1978.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:21 pmWish I had a photo of my desk (my worksite for ll years) being
dragged,carcass-like, from my Louisville office on its way to downsizing in Memphis.
Appreciated the pictures.