About the Domestic Common: Ion Zupcu’s American Homes (2012)

Most people take images of other people to preserve memories;
I photograph objects to preserve my memories.

Ion Zupcu, photographer, was born in Romania in 1960 but emigrated to the United States in the early 1980’s. His work incorporates sculpture, abstraction and painting and is influenced, in various degrees, by Ansel Adams, Josef Albers, Donald Judd and even Ed Ruscha, for the interest in using architectural folklore as artistic material.

About his 2012 series ‘American Homes’ (24 individual toned gelatin silver prints), in which he portrays a vocabulary of traditional domestic forms, Zupcu writes:

The houses showcased in this series illustrate the spirit and evolution of common houses found throughout North American neighborhoods from the past four centuries. They represent a range of homes from Folk Houses to McMansions. The development of these styles is a reflection of our ever-changing taste and sensibility.

The photographs in ‘American Homes’ are the result of my passion and investigation for architecture, structure, and light. My experience with three-dimensional forms has created a fluid transition into a deeper understanding of the history and design of American homes.

Through a collaborative process, architectural models were carefully selected, designed, and constructed for these photographs with architect Tagore Hernandez. During the iterative processing beginning with detailed models, I became aware that what captivated me the most about domestic homes was their outline and form. Initial detail models were stripped down, recreated, and presented in a way that allowed their sculptural forms to emerge.

All the houses are put on the stage before the public. These houses are not landmarks, they are icons of the places in which we sleep, eat, and raise our families. I have lived with my wife and daughter in a Shed Modern home for the past seven years in Upstate New York.

Ion Zupcu is represented by Clampart in Ney York City.