12A · Statement

In an idyllic spot of the Northeastern United States, caught between the foothills of the White and Green Mountains and running parallel east of the Connecticut River, lies the last two miles of the northern segment of New Hampshire's Route 12A. This is where the big box stores and fast food restaurants are: the Home Depot, McDonald's, Walmart, Wendy's, Best Buy. There is too much traffic (partly the result, no doubt, of New Hampshire's lack of income tax), Interstate 89 intersects it about a mile in, and the town landfill is located on the southern end. There is a bit of a sidewalk running along portions of the road, but it's rare to see someone walking on it. I dislike the place, yet I drive here often enough, to shop and recycle my garbage.

With these photographs it is my hope to capture the fleeting, and perhaps menacing, beauty between the highway, parking lots, and storefronts. Compared to other places around the nation, this area hasn't been hit supremely hard by the economic downturn, yet there's nothing that seems prosperous about these buildings. Even in the summer they strike me as utilitarian and cold.