Sites is an on-going body of work that explores the perpetual growth of the urban environment and how its constant flux seems to imbue the landscape with a sense of unrest or anxiety. Architectural trends, like the buildings they produce, continuously replace one another in the name of progress. Spurred by advancements in technology, the city is driven forward by a state of constant change. Making images that emphasize the city’s feats of material and technology, I attempt to locate this feeling of anxiety or destabilization within the architecture and shifting space of the built environment. By using the camera to intentionally reduce visual context and markers of geographical location, I aim to address the idea of the built environment without being clearly tied to a definitive place or era. By dislocating these photographs from a recognizable reality, I hope to make images that function not as documents, but rather as reflections or micro-fictions about how the built environment seems at present.
Kai M. Caemmerer (b.1988) lives and works in Chicago, IL. His current work explores aspects of urban space and its perpetual development. He earned his BA in photography from Western Washington University and his MFA in photography from Columbia College Chicago. He has recently received recognition and support from the Stuart R. Abelson Foundation, the People’s Government of Shangrao City, the Luminarts Foundation, and the Dave Bown Projects grant.
Website: kaimichael.com
