In 2010, I began Last House Standing as a way to document and explore the condition of displacement. One of the architectural oddities that can be found in certain east coast cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia and Camden, NJ is the solo row house. Standing alone on vacant lots, in some of the most distressed neighborhoods, these nineteenth century structures were once attached to similar row houses that made up entire city blocks. Time as well as major demographic and social changes have resulted in the decay and ultimate demolition of many such blocks of row houses. Occasionally, one house is spared - literally cut off from its neighbors and left to the elements with whatever time it has left. The existence of these solitary buildings poses a number of questions, not least of which is: what happened to all of the people who lived in the houses that didn’t survive? For myself, the question at the end of the day is how did a single row house happen to remain upright? Still retaining traces of its former glory, the last house standing is often still occupied.
Baltimore, MD 2010
Baltimore, MD 2010
Baltimore, MD 2011
Baltimore, MD 2011
Philadelphia. PA 2013
Philadelphia. PA 2013
Camden, NJ 2011
Camden, NJ 2017
Philadelphia. PA 2013
Philadelphia. PA 2013
Philadelphia. PA 2013
Camden, NJ 2011
Camden, NJ 2011
Camden, NJ 2017
Baltimore, MD 2011
Baltimore, MD 2020
Baltimore, MD 2011
Baltimore, MD 2018
Baltimore, MD 2011
Baltimore, MD 2020
Baltimore, MD 2012
Baltimore, MD 2013
Baltimore, MD 2011
Baltimore, MD 2020
Baltimore, MD 2011
Baltimore, MD 2016
Baltimore, MD 2020
Google Street View, 1927 Perlman Place, Baltimore, MD 2009
1927 Perlman Place, Baltimore, MD 2011
1927 Perlman Place, Baltimore, MD 2015
1927 Perlman Place, Baltimore, MD 2016