| Interest in the historical and environmental
narratives of specific landscapes led me to the Badger Army Ammunition
Plant, constructed in 1941 and last used during the Vietnam War.
Seven thousand acres and hundreds of decaying structures lie within
its rows of barbed wire fence. Initially I trained my lenses on
the remnants of 19th and 20th century farm homesteads and graveyards
where, in 1941, the government gave 80 homesteaders 60 days to leave
their land forever. Later I focused on the buildings of the munitions
plant, whose odd designs optimized their functions. Recently the
environmental cleanup work was added to this photographic project,
as the narrative continues in a toxic landscape.
Photographs from this ongoing project have been exhibited at several
locations including the "Inside the Fence" exhibit at
the Wisconsin State Museum in Madison, and published in regional
and national magazines. Recent publications of the Ammunition Plant
photographs include Wisconsin Trails Magazine, October
2004, and On Wisconsin, Summer 2004.
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