#easternsierraca

[ospix]

Osceola Refetoff, Trailer off Schabbell Lane - Fort Independence, CA - July 4, 2011 . On the 4th of July, 2011, I explored what appeared to be an abandoned double-wide trailer on the Indian reservation in Fort Independence, California. The original fort was established in 1862, during the Owens Valley Indian War that deprived indigenous Shoshone and Paiute peoples access to lands for which their culture knew no concept of ownership. After capturing this image, an Indian woman appeared at the door and asked me to leave her property. My work often involves trespassing into what appear to be abandoned structures. I often experience a sense of remorse amongst the ruined homes and discarded processions of inhabitants long absent and forgotten. But on this particular day, America’s Independence Day, I felt an exceptional sorrow for those whose land was expropriated by a young nation with great aspirations. Just fifty years later, the City of Los Angeles would buy up large parcels of the Owens Valley in order to make off with much of its water, leaving the valley's new residents without the means to sustain their farms. I returned to my car and later attended the parade through the town of Independence, just a few miles up the highway. There was much to reflect upon our nation’s complex history. I feel this image captures the sensation of being an interloper and a voyeur, bearing witness to a scene that can never be fully comprehended. . #desertdispatches #ospix #abandonedhome #abandoned structure #californiadesert #colorphotography #desertruin #easternsierraCA #forsakendreams #ftindependenceCA #graphic #humanlegacy #humanhabitation #humantrace #indianreservation #inyocounty #lightbulb #magicandrealism #mirror #mojavedesert #reflection #rural #smalltown #squareformat #usa #wallpaper www.desertdispatches.com www.ospix.com (at Fort Independence Travel Plaza)