Wherever You Go There You Are

This body of work focuses on the connections between memory and place. All of the images in this series were created in my hometown of Lake Orion, Michigan. The photographs reflect major issues currently prevalent in small towns where class dynamics and rapidly changing neighborhoods blend with issues of substance abuse and suicide. This culminates into an inquisitive study of grief, longing, and home.

By reinterpreting traditional documentary photography's heavy emphasis on captions to define images by specific place and time, this series instead included personal artifacts from the residents. Their individual memories allow for a deeper connection between the narrative, subject, and viewer, something traditional documentary photography often lacks. This project is about asking questions and characterizing the human experience, while also examining memories as shared and transmitted accounts.

The photographs offer a subjective impression of the contemporary American suburb. These images are not a mirror of Lake Orion or a place never seen before, but rather represent everywhere and elsewhere. They are intended to provoke memories of where you have been, people you know, and who you may become.

Steve Koss