Chad Ress – America Recovered

4 minute read

Los Angeles-based photographer Chad Ress’s landscape series America Recovered re-examines the legacy of the FSA within the context of the recent economic recession. By pairing photos of areas slated to receive stimulus money with text explaining the purpose of the grant, Ress’s project offers a unique look at the contemporary American landscape. Chad writes for LightBox about his process and goals.

“In late 2008 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 injected $790 billion dollars into the collapsed economy. The Obama administration advocated for unprecedented levels of transparency in the disbursement of these funds and websites at all levels of government were created to achieve this end.

I used the information from these websites as a guide for making the photographs. The catalyst was the language provided by the grant recipients to help explain the need and/or use of funds. I was propelled by the idea of what America might look like if this language could be visualized and made tangible through photography.

I’m interested in the disconnects—between text and image—between paying your taxes and how those funds are spent. I’m also interested in what Suzanne Mettler calls “the submerged state”- an amalgamation of tax incentives and subsidies that help constitute our social fabric. This project was in part about trying to manifest these very abstract processes on a scale more relatable to the individual.

The aspect of the FSA that most interests me is the idea of “descriptive economics” as conceived by Rexford Tugwell, a Columbia economics professor who later headed the FSA, and Roy Stryker, his student and later colleague at the FSA. They were both thinking about how the camera could be used to help make economic policy accessible.

I very much admire iconic photographers such as Dorthea Lange and Walker Evans and their FSA work was partly responsible for my start in photography. I don’t want to draw conclusions here but I hope this project can open up a discussion about how our relationship to photography and our vision of the nation has since changed.

That said, I can offer a few thoughts:

It is interesting to compare the Fed’s website recovery.gov with Roy Stryker’s efforts. Recovery.gov initially launched with no photography or video content and instead opted for data visualization technologies such as interactive and searchable data banks. This has since changed. The site now runs stories with photographs. The photography is crowd sourced meaning anyone with images of Recovery funded projects can submit images for consideration. In some cases the photography appears to be stock imagery. Will this ultimately result in a more accurate, transparent, or historical document? Will it create a visual document up to the task of remembering this very important policy? The American public owns the archive of images created by Lange and Evans and anyone can purchase a print for minimal cost- who owns the information on recovery.gov and what is its value?

The New Deal was based on a very ambitious vision of moving America forward. It created large scale public infrastructure and the social contract as we know it. The FSA photographers were able to capture this scale, decisiveness and sense of possibility. The Recovery Act favored what were called shovel ready projects- tasks already in the pipeline to be funded- ie there was no new vision. Ironically, some stimulus funds were spent on long deferred maintenance of structures originally built during the New Deal. I think you can see this in the project- a sense of survival not heroics; a lack of common purpose; an ambiguity and sadness.

I’m still considering how to finish the project. I’m interested in a representative not exhaustive archive. There are certain aspects of the stimulus bill that seem impossibly opaque to me. I’ve been limited in the sites I’m allowed to visit and these limitations have become very important. So what you’re not seeing here is perhaps as interesting as what you are seeing. I’m currently considering ways to address this negative space.”

To see more of Ress’ work, visit his website.

New Hogan Lake, Valley Springs, California Place boulders in Wrinkle Cove and Whiskey Creek Recreation Areas. Boulders will be used to prevent illegal off-road travel during low lake levels and prevent environmental degradation. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $125,000.00 Chad Ress
Magnolia Marsh Restoration, Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy - A 41-acre site that will be restored into a vital wetlands by bringing in tidal flow, building up levees and replanting native plants. Thi s project creates an estimated 19 job-years by expanding rearing habitat for many species of marine and coastal fish. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $3,200,000.00 Chad Ress
Brownfields, Lincoln Park, Michigan The City plans to use the grant to develop an inventory of Brownfields within the Community, and then perform environmental assessments on priority sites to identify issues of concern and help prepare them for sale and/or redevelopment. Grant money will be available to assist with site assessments for environmental due diligence and reuse planning. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $200,000.00 Chad Ress
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, East Lansing, Michigan This award provides funds to operate the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University as a national user facility, to support MSU faculty and staff research in nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, astro-nuclear physics, accelerator physics, and instrumentation development, and to continue serving as a center dedicated to the training of the next generation of scientists in these disciplines. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $2,000,000.00 Chad Ress
Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Detroit, Michigan Within the 140 mile area of the City of Detroit, officials estimate that there are approximately 33,000 vacant homes and 90,000 empty lots. In 2009, the City of Detroit demolished 860 vacant homes and aims to demolish thousands more during 2010 and over the next several years. Using funds supplied by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and working with community and faith-based leadership, Wayne County identified ten areas within Detroit that were ready for targeted demolition of properties. Mayor Dave Bing hopes to demolish 10,000 structures by the end of his term. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $45,332,612.00 Chad Ress
Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Detroit, Michigan Within the 140 mile area of the City of Detroit, officials estimate that there are approximately 33,000 vacant homes and 90,000 empty lots. In 2009, the City of Detroit demolished 860 vacant homes and aims to demolish thousands more during 2010 and over the next several years. Using funds supplied by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and working with community and faith-based leadership, Wayne County identified ten areas within Detroit that were ready for targeted demolition of properties. Mayor Dave Bing hopes to demolish 10,000 structures by the end of his term. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $45,332,612.00 Chad Ress
San Diego Bay Coastal Wetlands Restoration, San Diego, California San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, South San Diego Bay Unit. Under this component, 230 acres of existing salt ponds, located on the west side of the Otay River channel, would be restored to shallow subtidal and intertidal habitat. As a result, these ponds would be removed from the existing commercial solar salt operation, requiring the installation of a new tide gate in Pond 12, located across the Otay River channel from Pond 11, to allow continued solar salt production in the eastern ponds. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $2,900,000.00 Chad Ress
Santa Ynez Shoulder Widening, Santa Ynez, California Widen Refugio Road and Roblar Avenue to provide shoulder enhancement to increase the safety for traveling public by increasing recovery zones for vehicles. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $1,380,000.00 Chad Ress
Santa Maria River Levee Reinforcement, Santa Maria, California Project consists of reinforcement of 7 miles of Levee with Soil Treatment and Sheetpile. The US Army Corps of Engineers will be the responsible agency for this project. Santa Barbara County will assist the Corps with land rights and utilities. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $40,230,000.00 Chad Ress
Muskegon Museum of Arts, Michigan Funds used for temporary hiring of additional security guard. Amount funded by Recovery Act: $14,900.00 Chad Ress

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