Abstract

The drama of life rarely unfolds in majestic settings. Instead, nondescript spaces are more often the stage upon which one's life is lived. What Christine Welch sees as these sometimes modest, sometimes sterile, sometimes pretentious rooms are often dismissed or overlooked by their occupants, even when transformative encounters and events occur within their walls. Commonplace, a powerful new work of photography, provokes greater appreciation for these common spaces of everyday American life, as it captures their quiet power and subtle beauty in evocative images. Whether she photographs the food-stained living room of a fraternity house, the dimly lit booth in a local café, or the cool sleekness of a corporate boardroom, Welch captures the poignancy of common spaces and the meaning they hold in our contemporary society. The unpopulated images in her book are blank canvases on to which readers can project the particulars of their own experiences. Commonplace helps us redefine and rediscover those spaces too common for preservationists to save, yet too vital to the emotional fabric of American life to pass over.