Introduction
Introduction
Photographer Martin Adolfsson’s project Suburbia gone Wild provides a fascinating
window into one of the greatest structural changes of the 21st-century, the rise of the
upper middle class in the developing world. Exploring the search for identity among
this new strata of society, Adolfsson takes us where they live: the shiny, newly-developed suburbs surrounding the new economic centers of the world.
By focusing on model homes and the suburban landscape, his approach
is best described as a combination of positively amusing and awkwardly eerie, as he documents a curious phenomenon that looks more and more like the constructed world of The Truman Show.
The work expands across every continent and includes the suburbs of Bangkok, Shanghai, Bangalore, Cairo, Moscow, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo and Mexico City.
Using a handheld SLR camera, nothing has been lit, removed or altered in any of the photos.
By using an assistant to distract Realtors, the artist has shot all of the model homes without supervision of any PR person or sales representative. No permissions or permits have been acquired by any the of the developers.
Statement
Within the past two decades we’ve seen a huge shift in the balance of economic
power. Countries that didn’t have a middle class 20 years ago have seen a rapid
transformation from an agricultural economy to an industrial-based economy, so much so that a sizable percentage of the population now belongs to the middle class. How does that affect the social groups who have been able to benefit the most from the economic boom? How does that influence one’s identity when the change is so rapid?
I want to explore that search for identity taking place in the suburbs surrounding
Shanghai, Bangkok, Bangalore, Cairo, Moscow, Johannesburg, Sao Paolo and
Mexico City. By omitting geographical and national traces, I seek to create a strong
visual narrative between these disarmingly similar landscapes. The similarities interest me more then the national and cultural differences. My intentions are to create a visual narrative that takes the viewer on the front lines of an emerging global movement.