for the past five decades, self-taught photographer michael eastman has been documenting the crumbling architecture of cities including havana, buenos aires, lisbon and milan. steeped in nostalgia and a time gone by, many of the large-scale photographs depict buildings that will soon cease to exist, acting as remnants of the continuity of our collective lives.

michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the world
hollywood theater, havana, 2010, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches

all images © michael eastman, via JL modern gallery

 

 

on view at JL modern gallery in palm beach, florida, michael eastman‘s pictures are characterized by their precision, monumentality, and painterly use of color. the photographic artist has captured intimate portraits of places and their history, illustrated in shots of crumbling beaux arts or colonial structures, or ones that have become subsequently removed or renovated. ‘these empty rooms are really portraits of the people that inhabited them,’ notes eastman, ‘it’s for us as the viewer to figure out from the arrangement of the furniture, the things on the walls, the kinds of things that they’ve chosen to surround themselves with, the condition of the house, to kind of build our own portrait of who that is.’

michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldgreen interior, 2002, chromogenic color photograph, 45 x 37 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldabstract wall #2, havana, 2000, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldabstract wall, havana, 2000, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldblue moorish arch, havana, 2010, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldclass room, havana, 2010, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldfidel’s last stairway, havana, 2014, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the world
green interior with arch, havana, 2002, chromogenic color photograph, 45 x 37 inchesmichael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldisabella’s mirror, havana, 1999, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldchandelier, venice, 2008, chromogenic color photograph, 93 x 72 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worlddeco stairwell #2, havana, 2014, chromogenic color photograph, 93 x 72 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldisabella’s two chairs, havana, 2000, chromogenic color photograph, 93 x 72 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldmirror grid, milan, 2008, chromogenic color photograph, 45 x 37 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldmirror table, havana, 2014, chromogenic color photograph, 45 x 37 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldportrait #2, havana, 2014, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the world
red piano, havana, 2010, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldmichael eastman, red chair, syracusa, 2010, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldsecret doorway, buenos aires, 2017, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldthrone room, lisbon, 2011, chromogenic color photograph, 60 x 48 inches michael eastman documents the crumbling architecture of cities around the worldyellow room, havana, 2010, chromogenic color photograph, 45 x 37 inches

 

 

 

project info:

 

photographer: michael eastman

gallery: JL modern gallery

location: 324 worth avenue, palm beach, florida 33480

duration: january 19 – february 23