In her series Broken Houses, Ofra Lapid uses printed photos and other materials to create replicas of the slumping farmhouses and other abandoned structures that dot the American landscape.
Each structure in Broken Houses is made from printed photographs of a real building. The prints are attached to cardboard and held together with wood and other materials. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Each structure in Broken Houses is made from printed photographs of a real building. The prints are attached to cardboard and held together with wood and other materials.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
The buildings are oriented and lit to match the perspective and shadows contained in the original photograph. Photos by Ofra Lapid
The buildings are oriented and lit to match the perspective and shadows contained in the original photograph.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
The decay of the buildings can be caused by a number of factors, including wood rot, heavy snowfall, and termite infestation. Photos by Ofra Lapid
The decay of the buildings can be caused by a number of factors, including wood rot, heavy snowfall, and termite infestation.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
Post-2008, these images carry some connotations of the housing collapse, but Lapid says this wasn't intentional. However, she agrees that some degree of political commentary seems to be inherent in them. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Post-2008, these images carry some connotations of the housing collapse, but Lapid says this wasn't intentional. However, she agrees that some degree of political commentary seems to be inherent in them.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
"It was warmly surprising how a lot of people were very affected by [the project]," says Lapid. "It’s a bit of an emotional work in a weird way." Photos by Ofra Lapid
"It was warmly surprising how a lot of people were very affected by [the project]," says Lapid. "It’s a bit of an emotional work in a weird way."
Photos by Ofra Lapid
Sometimes extra materials like balsa wood are used to augment certain features or effects in the source photos. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Sometimes extra materials like balsa wood are used to augment certain features or effects in the source photos.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
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Ofra was interested in these buildings in part because they seem to be a common sight that many people don't stop to notice. One of her hopes for this series is that it brings back subtle memories for viewers. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Ofra was interested in these buildings in part because they seem to be a common sight that many people don't stop to notice. One of her hopes for this series is that it brings back subtle memories for viewers.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
The entire series was constructed in one long process between 2010 and 2011, while Lapid was still living in Israel. Photos by Ofra Lapid
The entire series was constructed in one long process between 2010 and 2011, while Lapid was still living in Israel.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
Some structures are photographed twice, making the progression of time visible between them. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Some structures are photographed twice, making the progression of time visible between them.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
This is the same building as the previous slide, taken some time later and after suffering further deterioration. Photos by Ofra Lapid
This is the same building as the previous slide, taken some time later and after suffering further deterioration.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
Lapid says that each building has taken on a kind of personality for her, reminiscent of portraits of actual people. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Lapid says that each building has taken on a kind of personality for her, reminiscent of portraits of actual people.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
The original photographs came from an amateur photographer's Flickr page - she prefers not to reveal their identity, in part because she was unable to get in touch with them to discuss the project she based on their work. Photos by Ofra Lapid
The original photographs came from an amateur photographer's Flickr page - she prefers not to reveal their identity, in part because she was unable to get in touch with them to discuss the project she based on their work.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
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Lapid is currently in an MFA program in New York. She says this was her first real project. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Lapid is currently in an MFA program in New York. She says this was her first real project.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
Each model is photographed against a gray background, taken at Lapid's art studio. She says the photographs themselves are not the point, but are a means of controlling the visual experience viewers have when seeing these objects. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Each model is photographed against a gray background, taken at Lapid's art studio. She says the photographs themselves are not the point, but are a means of controlling the visual experience viewers have when seeing these objects.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
In the gallery exhibit, the photos were presented as a single group of 40 photos arranged in a grid, amplifying their overall effect. Photos by Ofra Lapid
In the gallery exhibit, the photos were presented as a single group of 40 photos arranged in a grid, amplifying their overall effect.
Photos by Ofra Lapid
Lapid says she is now interested in creating installations based on similar concepts to the ones she used here, forgoing photographs altogether. Photos by Ofra Lapid
Lapid says she is now interested in creating installations based on similar concepts to the ones she used here, forgoing photographs altogether.
If you’ve driven a rural road anywhere in the United States, you’ve probably seen the slumping remains of a farmhouse or warehouse. And while you may not have given it a second thought, Ofra Lapid sure did. Broken Houses is a focused meditation on these gutted structures, which she recreates in miniature from found photographs.
Her models are made from printed photos of real buildings she discovered online, held together with cardboard, wood, and other materials. Lapid discovered the work of an amateur photographer in North Dakota–kept anonymous at Lapid’s request–who had taken numerous detailed photos of the condemned structures.
“I saw them and I was extremely fascinated,” Lapid says. “It was back when I was still living in Israel, so it was like the other end of the world.”
After sourcing the images, Lapid removed their backgrounds before printing the facades and attaching them to cardboard cutouts. These were assembled into small replicas, sometimes with balsa or other materials added to enhance effects like support beams or rubble.
Each model is designed to be lit and viewed from a specific angle to create shadows that harmonize with the printed image. Occasionally, the slow, ongoing decay is shown in models created from photos of the same building taken at different points in time, as shown in slides nine and 10.
“For me, the thinking is more a transformation of a place that I am attracted to or that I find fascinating as a place that I want to represent,” says Lapid. “And how, from an image that I find, or from a memory, or from one place, I transform it into my own image.”
Lapid made the models between 2010 and 2011 at home in Israel. The concept and execution was relatively straightforward, but the result is nuanced and layered in ways that viewers seem to have picked up on. For Lapid, currently earning her MFA in New York, the popularity of this, her first dedicated project, has come as something of a surprise. It also seems to validate the effect she was going for.
“A lot of people immediately responded to it; it called out to their emotions, or their memory,” she says. “It’s a bit of an emotional work in a weird way.”
Lapid says she reached out to the photographer who made the images that inspired hers, but says he never replied. She’s not sure he got the message or knows what she’s done with his work, and can’t speak to his original intent in producing it. After reimagining them, she says she’s developed something of a personal relationship with the buildings he photographed.
“They’re very human to me,” she says. “Every one had an expression, sort of like you were painting portraits.”
The topic of derelict homes seems to automatically suggest a certain amount of commentary post-2008, ringing of the decay and foreclosures of homes experienced across the country. Lapid insists this wasn’t her intention, but it’s hard to deny that it adds an extra, bittersweet resonance to the work.
“It doesn’t have a statement of that sort, but I think it’s embedded there anyhow,” she says. “I was acting on a personal note, but of course it’s never just personal and I don’t live in an empty bubble.”
