Commissioned by the New York Times Magazine to celebrate the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, Khan created this layered depiction of the Houses of Parliament by digitally combining dozens of postcards and stock photographs of the landmark. Deliberately choosing views from varying perspectives, he eliminated distracting elements to render the essence of the iconic stone architecture, transforming it into a less recognizable, diaphanous version of itself. Weaving together clichéd, static pictures, he created an expressive, shimmering photograph.
Moore photographs places that have undergone accelerated cycles of growth and decay, due to political, economic, or social upheaval. Palace Theater, Gary, Indiana documents the wreckage of a 1925 art deco theater that closed some five decades later as the city faced an economic downturn and increased crime. The photograph contrasts the theater’s ornate promises of fantasy and escape with its harsh financial realities.
Model T Headquarters, Highland Park, Michigan shows an abandoned executive suite at the Ford Company’s Highland Park plant, which closed in the mid-1970s after operations shifted to other sites. Against a backdrop of dated and dingy wood paneling, the original flooring has been supplanted by a carpet of green moss, its emerald hue providing unexpected beauty in the midst of decay.