• Below Ten Thousand Feet
    • Symptoms of an Anxious Mind
    • A Love Letter to Our Elders
    • Allegiance
    • Not My Daughter
    • Pre-Abandoned
    • Master-Planned
    • Distressed
    • Bio
    • Exhibition History
    • Press
    • Writing
    • Lectures
    • Curatorial Work
  • Contact
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Amanda Dahlgren Photography

  • In Progress
    • Below Ten Thousand Feet
    • Symptoms of an Anxious Mind
    • A Love Letter to Our Elders
  • Projects
    • Allegiance
    • Not My Daughter
    • Pre-Abandoned
    • Master-Planned
    • Distressed
  • About
    • Bio
    • Exhibition History
    • Press
    • Writing
    • Lectures
    • Curatorial Work
  • Contact
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Master-Planned

Master-Planned is a fine art photography series exploring the powerful allure created by the builders of today's lavish residential communities. With their Stepford creations, builders play on our tendency to value the grandiose over the genuine by creating the illusion of prestige and instant community in a "custom-built" home.

Personally, I am attracted to the promise of a beautiful brand-new home in a family-oriented neighborhood with great parks, pools, and schools for my daughter. But in this series, I juxtapose this manufactured contemporary American dream with the realities of years of construction activity, a house that is just like everyone else's, a grinding commute, and the harsh truth that many of today's short sales and foreclosures are yesterday's model homes.

The visual style of the series is voyeuristic, intense, and saccharine, echoing the yearning, exploitation, and fantasy swirling around these developments for me. My dreams might tell me that my husband, daughter, and I will find the perfect life in the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood, but the truth is that right around the corner sits a family just like us whose dreams are now nightmares in a house that's upside-down.

View fullsize Sprawl: Stonebridge Estates by McMillin Homes
View fullsize Consume: Terramar by Pardee Homes
View fullsize Underwater: Madeira by Shea Homes
View fullsize Lock: Bridgewalk by Standard Pacific Homes
View fullsize Stoop: The Willows by Pulte Homes
View fullsize Casita: Montoro by Cornerstone Communities
View fullsize Model: Santa Barbara by Heritage Building & Development
View fullsize Sold: Montoro by Cornerstone Communities
View fullsize Available: Monte Sereno by Oakwood Development
View fullsize Idle: Torrey Highlands by Pardee Homes
View fullsize Reverse: Terramar by Pardee Homes
View fullsize Construct: 4S Ranch by Newland Communities
View fullsize White: Santa Rita by Heritage Building & Development
View fullsize Divide: Presidio by Standard Pacific Homes
View fullsize Below: Torrey View by Shea Homes
View fullsize Toll: South Bay Expressway by California Transportation Ventures, Inc.
View fullsize Detached: Indigo by McMillin Homes
View fullsize Unfinished: Manzanita Trail by Pardee Homes