What helps Dodge helps YOU focused on Dodge Steel Castings, a closed and abandoned Philadelphia factory and its surrounding grounds, which came to be used as an illegal dumping ground. The project was conceived around a simple yet powerful idea; use the raw materials from the wasted building and the refuse heaped around it to build a giant rolling pinhole camera to make large scale photographs that document the site.

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Pinhole Camera
1992, found objects and trailer, 12 x 20 x 9 feet


Pinhole Camera
1992, found objects and trailer, 12 x 20 x 9 feet


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 120 inches square


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 40 x 120 inches


Dodge Steel Castings, Inc.
1992, silver-gelatin print, 40 x 80 inches


Installation of What helps Dodge helps YOU at Painted Bride Art Center
1993, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Installation of What helps Dodge helps YOU at Painted Bride Art Center, 1993, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
An integral aspect of the project was research on the history and role of the site in the community. This information became an important part of the exhibition and included a recorded interview/tour of the foundry with the former president of the local Molders' Union, George Luckenbill, who worked at Dodge for over thirty years.


In 1993, the trailer-camera was part of the 1993 Tacony History Day Parade, a local historical celebration, and as part of the Disston Festival, a smaller version of the exhibition was set up amongst other historical displays at the Tacony Recreation Center.


In 1993, the trailer-camera was part of the 1993 Tacony History Day Parade, a local historical celebration, and as part of the Disston Festival, a smaller version of the exhibition was set up amongst other historical displays at the Tacony Recreation Center.


"What helps Dodge helps YOU" sign, found on site.
detail of camera, paint on metal, 14 x 20 inches