Franchised Landscape #8, Tennessee, 1997
JEFF BROUWS (1955– )
From a very young age I found gas stations to be fascinating places for a myriad of reasons…I love the grease encrusted tools, the polished steel of pneumatic lifts, the smell of lubricants and gas fumes, and became intoxicated with the inherent visual culture of the place.
The Franchised Landscapes not only capture moments within an ever-changing American geography, but also open a dialogue about changing cultural, sociological, and visual conditions across America. Brouws’s photographs subtly gesture to an underlying paradox within the American Dream, that throughout a country that declares economic equality and social justice for all, many dreams fail. As these franchises expand their global reach, American landscapes are exported to distant corners of our world.
Curricular Resources
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21st Century