This work examines the shared topography of suburban sprawl and the post industrial landscape to expose an inner psychology of despair and depression. I grew up in Florence Township, NJ, home to the Roebling Steel Mill and various foundries. The Roebling Steel Mill and most others were shuttered during my formative years. The architectural bones of these mills and foundries, the plumes of smoke for the few that remain, and the toxic grounds on which they sit lay heavily on the land and the collective psyche of its inhabitants. This environment was further degraded by two dumps, the stench of which was inescapable. The only refuge was the corn and soybean fields that created a maize border. These features acted as a siege that even our scrappiness couldn’t surmount. We found comfort in sports, religion, and drugs and alcohol.

The string of suicides of my childhood male friends, whether direct or indirect, has had profound reverberations on this small town. Sadly, this reality is present in far too many American towns. White middle aged men of working class backgrounds are dying unnatural deaths in far greater numbers than acknowledged. Stigmatized and alone, it is still dangerous to talk about. As the portrait part of this project commenced, a stone wall of anger and emotional unavailability was erected. Those who have sat for me are truly brave. Their images bear witness to this silent and unseen national epidemic further compounded by the rampant opioid crisis. It is just too easy and cheap to die.

I appropriate the term “the hard shell” from Richard Nonas of Anarchitecture because the people as well as the foundries recall a resistance to change that architecture epitomizes. I call the portraits the Left Behinds. The term is a play on words. On the one hand, they were left behind to deal with guilt and sadness. On the other hand, they are politically and economically left behind in an ever evolving America.