The series “House Hunting” ​is a study of suburbia at night. Photographing this domestic architecture I show how it sits in the landscape as a resonant–if contradictory–symbol.

Capitalizing upon existing light at night, these vernacular structures are both emblematic of familial wealth and stability, while simultaneously being aberrant and unsettling. The tension coming from their seeming remoteness, which allows them to represent both safety and refuge and conversely mystery, anxiety, and potential danger because we don’t have access to the inhabitants​.

As I approach each house I underscore these moods by keeping the viewer at a distance which they cannot close, to construct a quasi-cinematic narrative that evokes more questions than answers about the family dynamics and the presumed security provided within each structure and on each street.

The unfolding of this body of work reveals our uncanny attraction to these homes and neighborhoods between our aspirations toward the financial benefits of ownership, the domestic tranquility of the remote property and the concomitant risks and falsities both expose us to today.

–Chelsea Reeck