I feel bad for Ra(i)der

2019

“Hey! Wanna head up the mountain and check out a refrigerator with nude photos?”

This was the text my friend sent me. It caught my attention, and I was equal parts hesitant and intrigued. The text conjured images of Vern Tessio in Stand by Me: “You guys wanna go see a dead body?” I’m hardwired to anticipate something sinister. Blame Unsolved Mysteries and the true-crime podcast I listen to. Yet I was intrigued by the mental image of a refrigerator with nude photos. I envisioned an old 1950s Maytag with vintage Playboy pages taped on it. You know, something you would have seen in a mechanic’s garage back in the day. Pretty tame.

The mythical refrigerator wasn’t precisely that.

Nor was it anything out of a horror movie. “Icky” is the word I would use to describe the scene. Depressing, too. Not what I expected.

It is often impossible to discern the meaning and purpose of items left behind when no context is available.

This image series comes from a single source: an abandoned house deep in a rural area. Question upon question arises about the location, the circumstances surrounding the creation of the immense number of images, and the women involved – are they consenting participants, unwilling victims, or something in between?

The damaged images of these unknown women implicate the viewer and their passive role in viewing the work, their fragmented bodies on display as an object rather than a whole being.