These images are part of a project that documents the uneasy transition of a large undeveloped suburban area in the Twin Cities into a planned community of megastores, strip malls, high-density housing and hotels. It is a landscape of intent on a vast scale. A drive through the heart of this area drives the point home; one side of the road is a converging sea of themed architecture in various stages of completion, while the on the opposite side is a vista of endless mountains of dirt, rock and sand being carved out of the earth.
For four years I spent many mornings and evenings there photographing this evolving landscape. On one level, my photos are documents of the physical power exerted upon the landscape by the equipment that is rendering the land. On another level, the images aim to convey the emotional undercurrents of violence, desolation and control that one encounters when immersed in this landscape.
— Chuck Avery, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA