Series of black and white images evoking the nostalgic and timelessness poignancy of Lawrence, MA. Its urban landscape of impressive mills and factories that drove the city to significant industrial and economic prominence around the turn of 20th century, now stand mostly today desolate and abandoned from failed attempts of revitalization and renewal.
Cities continually struggle to stay modern in the face of significant changes in society, culture and economy. When the struggle becomes too great, the consequences are evident in the abandonment, ruin and desolation physically left behind in its streets and centers.
Lawrence, Massachusetts on the banks of the Merrimack River in New England is one such city. Once a bustling and vibrant city of economic prominence for much of the 19th and early 20th century, its mills, factories and processing centers today stand desolate. Many abandoned to decay and ruin while a very few are diminished from its industrial grandeur to house apartments, condos and small businesses. Urban renewal since the 1950’s to revitalize this city in response to the decline in manufacturing and shifting demographics has achieved limited success. As a result, much of Lawrence today is an urban landscape banal and devoid of vibrancy. Yet its history present through the remnant monuments of its once great industrial past evokes a poignant sense of timelessness and nostalgia. It is these qualities that make this city alluring to explore and discover photographically and for which this series attempts to document.