When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, while everyone else seemed to be baking bread, I was wandering the streets with a newly converted camera, photographing almost anything that caught my eye.
I’d seen many of these houses many times before, but they hadn’t really registered with me. Infrared photography required a different approach to editing than I was used to, and as I experimented I found myself pushing the images further than I normally would. One image of an old Victorian suddenly jumped out at me. The ornate details came alive, the colors shifted, the sky turned black, and I realized I was seeing these familiar houses in an entirely new way.
From then on, I started seeking out Victorians specifically. Their extravagant architecture seemed perfectly suited to this new way of seeing. This project isn’t about documenting historically significant homes, although some of them are. It’s about getting The Shot. Sometimes that’s a beautifully restored house. Sometimes it’s one that’s been neglected for decades. I find beauty in both.
The first photographs were made close to home, where the Bay Area has an extraordinary collection of Victorian architecture. Before long, I was planning trips across California, and eventually to the Midwest, always looking for the next house that might surprise me.
Locations
- Alameda, CA
- Davenport, IA
- Duluth, IA
- Eureka, CA
- Petaluma, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- St. Joseph, MO
- Woodland, CA