Statement - Ruby & Willie
RUBY & WILLIE: my grandparents' house
These images are just a sampling from the rolls of film I shot. The images were taken in Ruby and Willie’s home at 1824 Davison, Richland, Washington. Ruby passed in 1978, leaving Willie to live alone. He lived in the basement and kitchen, not touching any rooms. I documented each room as I would a museum, capturing all the details in the kitchen, living room, dining room, hallway, boys’ room, girls’ room, Ruby’s room, the downstairs TV room, and finally, Willie's basement bedroom.
I began documenting their simple décor in December 1999 when I visited. Maybe I knew this home, which looked like a movie set, would soon be destroyed. Within four months, my grandfather fell sick and passed away. This home, which hadn’t been changed in more than 25 years, was soon stripped down to nothing. Everything was gone.
As generations leave us, they take with them their environments. I used photography for what it does best: to document a place and time before it is gone.
Each photograph will be able to stand alone or be combined in a linear or stacked grouping describing a single room or is also beautiful as a large grid of images forming one giant piece.