John Schott’s unpeopled images of American mobile homes—up close and at a distance—are not exactly dystopian, but provoke a certain uneasiness. Where is the child who rode that tricycle now lying on its side? Who goes to the drive-in tidily sandwiched between rows of silent homes glinting in the sunshine? The evidence of human activity in the absence of humans is haunting, and would seem to point to a future without us. These starkly rendered images of the built environment (and, by extension, the impact of human industry upon the natural landscape) are timeless documents, addressing unfortunately perennial environmental issues.
