Nowhere in particular

Abstract

Nowhere in Particular is a photographic series exploring the textures and contradictions of the Midwest through contact sheet photography. The project was built using expired Fujifilm color negative film and assembled across multiple rolls, forming large composite prints from smaller individual frames. Influenced by contact sheet techniques shared in online photography spaces and informed by the aesthetics of artists like Thomas Lang and Stephen Shore, the work engages with overlooked and often unseen elements of the American landscape. By repeating themes of vacant spaces, hollow signs of patriotism, and stillness the series builds meaning through accumulation rather than spectacle. The process foregrounds materiality, slowness, and human error, tying the work to the tactile history of film photography. Over the course of creating and exhibiting this series, the project also encountered institutional censorship that ultimately revealed how fragile creative freedom can be, even within academic environments. This paper outlines the conceptual and technical foundations of the work, its artistic lineage, and the significance of continuing to work with analog processes in a digital era.