Chris Henry stands on the steps at one of the closed homes where he and his wife have witnessed break-ins. Renting a home in the neighborhood of Berea Woods Drive in Stafford, Va., Chris and his wife Brenda have concerns for their safety due to several homes that have been boarded up by the county in preparation for the construction of the Rocky Pen Reservoir. Outsiders are coming into the neighborhood stealing things like copper piping, leaving beer cans throughout houses, and possibly squatting.
I wish I weren't heading back to school because this sounds like something interesting to investigate and work on until the area is flooded. Chris and Brenda may be able to keep their home, the decision has been going back and forth in the courts. There are about 8-12 houses in the area abandoned.
2 comments:
what would be your approach to photographing this if you had more time? i ask because south bend has a huge number of abandoned homes, in the hundreds, and i really wanted to pick it up as a long term project while i was here but couldnt get going. the neighborhoods arent safe, there have been murders among squatters, and the city doesnt have a clear plan for how to revamp the deteriorating communities. i thought of following some landlords to see the situation from their perspective but by that point i had started working on another project. i like those shots, curious to hear more about it.
i think the dude in the first photo is thinking about a jumbo slice.
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