Images of wilderness, farmland, human structures and working people are interwoven within a story that is fictional but familiar, with collapsed timelines and transposable locations. The work looks at the fabled narrative of the Western frontier and our seemingly endless desire for hope and progress when the American Dream, such as we have known it, has all but collapsed.
As a photobook, published this past fall by Trespasser Books, Errors of Possession offers an ambiguous look into the lives of blue collar Americans and the ways in which agriculture, industry and our quest for prosperity have profoundly altered the country. The people in Grove’s photographs have an undefined relationship to the vast landscapes, forests and waterways that serve as backdrops. Lonely building facades and empty streets might signify both peace and solitude or the exploitation of rural America, depending on your perspective.
