If the creation of a structure represents the values and ideals of a time, so too does its subsequent abandonment and eventual destruction. In "Abandoned America: Dismantling the Dream",
internationally acclaimed photographer Matthew Christopher continues his examination of the ruins dotting American cities as quiet catastrophes that have affected not only the nation’s past but
also its present and future. Rather than approaching sites with a voyeuristic detachment from the tragedies they represent, Christopher’s essays intimately explore the losses and failures that
led some of America’s finest institutionss to become viewed as little more than eyesores in communities that had once supported them. From the heartbreaking story of a state school that would
become home to one of the country’s worst cases of fatal neglect and abuse to the shattered remains of what was once the largest mall in the United States, "Abandoned America: Dismantling the
Dream" asks what leads us to leave places behind and what the consequences of doing so are. Matthew Christopher’s journeys through these haunting, dangerous, and hard to access locations force
us to confront who we were, who we are, and who we wish to become. From the remnants of the country’s largest privately owned zoo to a beachfront community left for dead when its bridge burned,
from the most expensive public school in the United States to an derelict ocean liner larger than the Titanic, you’ll never forget the amazing locations featured in this beautiful collection of
photographs.
