NOLAN SMOCK
NORTH DALLAS; or, Three Weeks With A CyberShot in the Silicon Prairie (2018) is inspired by art photo books like The New West or American Prospects, as well as more strictly documentary photo books like Dallas: The Deciding Years and Views in Texas: 1895-1896.
Where those books were filled with large-format photographs taken over extended periods of time, this project was shot in under three weeks with a 2003 Sony CyberShot. The digital camera's small sensor size is a stark contrast to the size and resolution of the images that inspired me—a contrast somewhat outsized by the scale and spectacle of Dallas itself.
Using early digital point-and-shoot made around the time I last lived there, the series looks to the city’s sprawl, as well as its self-referential iconography and symbols. The history and culture of the area is intertwined with the landscape of the metroplex. North Dallas is a city that isn't so much deep as it is long. As one developer said in the 60s: "I sometimes wonder how far north these nuts will go in order to be chic. I suspect its St. Louis."
I was born in Dallas and lived and visited there for many years. This trip was my last, so far, and my first time back in a while. The images feel dreamlike to me now. I was hyperfixated, driving back and forth across its impossibly long, nostalgic grid, day and night. My map was a checklist: themes, loose ideas, fading memories. It all runs together now. Much of what's photographed in the book is gone, adding to the unreality.
The photos mix places of personal and historical relevance, but the distinction between the two is never made clear. In some ways, making this book feels like closure, but it also reflects the ambiguity of moving on when loose ends remain.
A photobook maquette was made (see above) with a much longer essay but the book remains unpublished.
<---back to main
