“Yet some how the suburb managed to impose its own logic. In architecture and landscape, essential dualism, both spatial and temporal, were denied…And buried not far beneath the surface of its apparent uniformity lie distinctions that depend less on origin then on activity.”
-Visions of Suburbia

We function and exist in our day-to-day lives as a part of multiple communities. Often our everyday life becomes so familiar that we do not take notice of the activities that we participate in and the structural environment around us, or question the role that they have in our lives.

The routine of driving is one common activity in communities. As a driver you are constantly attentive to what is happening around you, trying to get somewhere and predicting the moves of other drivers. What happens when there is a break in that awareness? As we sit in traffic or wait for the light to turn green do we just sit and stare ahead, have a conversation, or see what is happening around us? I am documenting through the use of my rearview mirror the actions occurring around my car while I am waiting.

During my commute to work everyday, I began to think about what I was doing as I was sitting at a light or in traffic, and started to watch where I was and what was happening both in front of my car and in my rearview mirror. I became interested in not only the abstraction of being able to see what is happening all around me, but also in how often we are unaware of that. People approach the light or wait in traffic searching for something, engaging in conversation, thinking, or watching what is around them. I am interested in documenting the break of space between what is in front of and what is reflecting in the mirror as well as other actions that occur. Does the person leave space or are they anxious to continue on their journey so they get so close to my car that they become invisible? Do they see me or are they looking elsewhere? What is visible when no one is there?