Home Site #2, Phillips Ranch, California 1984

This is Joe Deal's, Home Site #2, Phillips Ranch, California, a photograph, and, man, it's like staring into the soul of suburbia. Deal isn't trying to pretty things up. What grabs me is how he’s not afraid to show the raw, almost brutal, texture of this landscape. The ground is all dry and scratchy, full of these tiny, spiky plants, and it feels like you could practically cut yourself on it. There's a starkness to the way he’s captured the light, making every little detail pop. It reminds me a little bit of Ed Ruscha, in the way it's so deadpan, so unflinching in its gaze. Except instead of gas stations, Deal is looking at the edges of development, the places where nature is getting bulldozed to make way for something new. It's a bit bleak, but there's also a kind of beauty in that honesty.