LIFE
FORCE
The magazine of the photo-essay
July 2017 back issue
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film maker
by Beth Yarnelle Edwards
In 1997 I began photographing in the suburbs of Silicon Valley, where I had lived for
many years. These suburbs are a physical embodiment of the American Dream as it
has often been represented—a place where natural beauty intersects with
opportunities in high-tech industry, an increasingly diverse yet predominately affluent
population, and access to nearby cultural centers.
Although I started my project with friends and neighbors, I quickly found myself
photographing households several degrees removed. These were strangers
introduced to me by people I had already photographed. Eventually the majority of
my subjects were people I had never met before. Exhibitions and publications of this work led to invitations to
photograph in five European countries. I've included some of the European images, which look like they could have
been made at home. My intention is not to critique but to observe. Since I consider myself to be a stalker of the real, I
have devised rules to keep my photographs as truthful as possible. Though the events pictured here are staged, they
are based on information obtained from interviews with my subjects and always with their knowledge and consent. I
don’t pose people but rather set up improvisations and then wait for an authentic expression, posture, or interaction
to appear.
Sometimes I’m so interested in what’s going on with people in their homes that I want to know what’s in the closet or
under the bed. In my photographs I aspire to tell the viewer not just about what can be seen, but also about things that
are hidden and locked away.
I seek out intersections of the mythic and mundane. As I attempt to reveal some basic truth about my subjects, I’m
attracted to the peculiar or surprising. When I succeed, I’ve created an image that is both specific and universal.
I am now in the process of visiting, interviewing, and re-photographing people who first appeared in Suburban Dreams
as many as twenty years ago.
John.
Katherine.
Art and Carol.
Marvin.
Haley.
Scott and Keith.
Kim.
Laurel.
Niki.
Lea-Pauline.
Samantha.
Lisette.
Rita.
Lorraine.
Erin.
Vern.
Dyanne.
