Photo Book Works

Laura Russell
Portland, OR

Bless This House

In the summer of 2006, nearly 250 families received notice that their three adjoining mobile home parks in Beaverton, Oregon would be closed and demolished to make way for redevelopment. Bless This House is a collection of photographs that document a community on the brink of extinction. The front side of the large accordion “map” shows photographs of the park and it's families in the months before demolition.

The backside of the accordion shows a progression from left to right from a dreary winter of empty trailers, to demolition and finally to a land laid bare by bulldozers. Sadly, the bulldozers pulled out and the land was cleared in the summer of 2008. Then came the market crash in September 2008. The promise of affordable housing replaced by the failed promises of a strip mall.

Accordion fold text block with case-style hard cover. Archival digital printing on Mohawk Superfine paper. 6.25 x 16.25 x .5 inches extending out to 55 inches. 55 original color photographs plus a poem written by the artist. Edition of 25. 2010.

$350

To purchase, please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.

Click here to see Laura's other book in this show, Good Will & Salvation.

Artist Biography

Laura Russell creates one-of-a-kind and limited-edition artist books that explore the visual and graphic landscape that we look at everyday, but never really see. She has participated in national and international book arts and fine art exhibitions. Her books are collected by individual collectors and are in major collections at museums, libraries, universities and corporations. She curates exhibitions, gives workshops, lectures and writes about the book arts. Laura is also the owner of 23 Sandy Gallery, a fine art gallery in Portland featuring photography, artist books and other types of graphic arts.