This book is a result of a physical journey Lawrence undertook back home, to an area he once ravaged through in his younger years. It is an attempt to demonstrate the destruction he encountered as a boy, and his loss of connection to the area as he grows away from his past, leaving moments behind that stagnate in an environment that has been laid to waste. An encountering of memories and the way they reside within you. Cluttered, unorganised and messy.
“Wreckage is in many ways my strange attempt at an autobiographical narrative. Paralleling light, violence and form in order to reconstruct the memories of my younger psyche as I came to terms with the world that was constructed around me. Reconnecting with the environment that saw the destructive behaviour of my wayward youth, which I often think was inspired by curiosity and not malice.”
“Forms and silhouettes of rubble caught my attention, but it wasn’t until I used a flash to bring light to the darkness that I discovered what I was seeing for a split second, only for it to disappear a moment later. The idea of a distant memory being brought into the light was present for me. The memory of once growing up in an area that is now forgotten and isolated, detached and dark. My desire to possess these memories has culminated into this physical object. A photo book.”
Fragments of the junkyard act as stimulating motion and action to the psyche of a juvenile, emulating the detachment and loneliness many encounter as they grow. The photos reflect a natural impulse for watching things be destroyed and document the way in which one encounters and reacts to the polluted world left by others. This photo book is a manifestation of Lawrence’s attempt to understand where things fit together by first breaking them apart.
The book includes a short anecdote by Harrison Howard, guiding the viewer along the journey.
First edition of 150