It has been difficult to come to terms with the state that our country is in. Reproductive rights taken from women. Police brutality. Unlivable wages. Over one trillion dollars in student debt. Extreme division. The elected officials stand watch and play their game. The 1% control the government and hoard their wealth so they can stay in power while the rest of us struggle to survive. They could care less what happens to the rest of the 99%. We are all thrown into a capitalist system without giving consent, and then we are forced to abide by in order to survive; this is how the world works.

Plenty of artists throughout history have screamed in agony, pain, and frustration, and although things have changed, not nearly as fast as they and I have hoped. This realization can bring unrelenting feelings of suffocation and hopelessness. These stresses have left me feeling detached from reality. It is as if I am watching the world crumble through my phone screen and I cannot stop watching. While it can be assumed that I am incapable of making an impact on these issues, if I am complacent then everyone who profits from the rules and regulations of the system wins. We should not have to work ourselves to death merely to survive. We need change and giving in is just as good as giving up.

These photographs have been put through my photographic systems to emulate the states of disassociation and derealization that I have endured due to the effects of our societal systems. Photoshop manipulation to contact print to scanner to photoshop manipulation to inkjet print. Industrial machines have caught my eye. These machines run on their technical and mechanical systems until they break or are no longer the most efficient. After they are no longer of use, or perhaps new technologies were invented, the machines stay standing where they once were of the utmost advancements for it’s prime. No longer operational, weathered, beaten, and exploited – and yet, they still stand. These photographs depict the dark, repetitive, and endless cycle that will continue if there is no change to our broken and corrupt system. Just as these machines live on in their weathered states, so will I.