Seph Lawless

Seph Lawless
Born 1978 (age 37–38)
Cleveland, Ohio
Residence Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality American
Occupation Photographer
Years active 2005-present [1]
Website sephlawless.com

Seph Lawless (born 1978)[2][3] is a pseudonymous American photographer best known for his photos of urban decay and abandoned spaces across the United States.

Early life

Lawless was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and briefly raised in Detroit, Michigan, before returning to Cleveland, where he resides as of 2014.[4][5] His father was a longtime worker at Ford Motor Company; through him, Lawless witnessed the collapse of the once-thriving American auto industry.[6][7]

Career

In 2012 and 2013, Lawless photographed man-made desolation and other symbols of industrial decline in the Rust Belt and across the rest of the United States. He took approximately 3,000 images and 17 hours of video footage that he used in his 2014 book, Autopsy of America.[2][6][8]

A follow-up collection, Black Friday: The Collapse of the American Shopping Mall, contains photos from late 2013 through April 2014,[7] and documents the demise of old symbols of American commercialism, homing in on abandoned, decaying and boarded-up shopping malls.[4][9] Lawless photographed abandoned malls in Michigan and Ohio,[10] focusing on the abandoned Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio, built in 1975 and closed in 2008, and the Randall Park Mall in North Randall, Ohio, which had been the world's largest shopping center at the time of its opening in the 1970s, and which closed in 2009.[11][12][13]

In 2014, Lawless's photos of abandoned malls were featured in segments on CNNMoney,[10] and he was also interviewed about the photos by Greta Van Susteren on Fox News.[7] Cleveland Magazine named Lawless one of its Most Interesting People 2015.[14]

In 2014, Lawless released 13: An American Horror Story, with photos from "haunted" buildings in the United States.[15][16][17] In 2016, the Huffington Post issued a correction to its 2014 article about Lawless's "haunted buildings" book because of factual errors in Lawless's captions on the photos.[18]

In 2015, The Guardian newspaper published Lawless' photos documenting the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.[19]

In 2015, Lawless released his book, Bizarro: The World's Most Hauntingly Beautiful Abandoned Theme Parks, featuring photographs from 10 abandoned theme parks in the US and Germany.[20][21][22]

On September 2, 2016 Lawless appeared on the TV show Abandoned on the Viceland channel, where he talked with host Rick McCrank about his images of abandoned shopping malls.[23][24]

Lawless has been charged with trespassing in relation to his photography. Photographs for his work Black Friday resulted in a police investigation in Cleveland, Ohio, and a misdemeanor trespassing charge.[25]

Works

Exhibitions

References

  1. ↑ Seph Lawless
  2. 1 2 Eric Sandy, “The Art of the Autopsy: Photographer Seph Lawless Spends his Days Documenting Decaying Ruins,” Cleveland Scene, August 7, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Photographer captures 'Hauntingly Beautiful' abandoned homes". 6abc.com. 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  4. 1 2 David Uberti, “The death of the American mall,” The Guardian, June 19, 2014.
  5. ↑ Matthew Newton, "Taking Pictures Of The Dead Shopping Malls Of Our Youth: Images From Suburban America," Thought Catalog, June 9, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Stephanie Valera, “Ruins of the Rust Belt: Haunting Photos of Abandoned Buildings by Seph Lawless,” Weather.com, February 7, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 Interview with Greta Van Susteren, “From bustling center of prosperity to ghost town,” Fox News, May 2, 2014.
  8. ↑ Stan Horaczek, “Interview: Seph Lawless’ ‘Black Friday’,” American Photo, April 29, 2014.
  9. ↑ Jordan G. Teicher, "A Haunting Look Inside Some of America's Abandoned Shopping Malls," Slate, June 22, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Aaron Smith, "Autopsy of America: Photos of dead shopping malls," CNNMoney, June 30, 2014.
  11. ↑ Stephanie Valera, “Black Friday: Ghostly Images of Abandoned Malls by Seph Lawless,” Weather.com, May 14, 2014.
  12. ↑ Adele Peters, "Eerie Photos Of Abandoned Shopping Malls Show The Changing Face Of Suburbia," Fast Company, April 21, 2014.
  13. ↑ Michael Walsh, "Creepy photos of abandoned shopping malls highlight crumbling communities of the Rust Belt," New York Daily News, April 30, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Most Interesting People 2015: Seph Lawless," Cleveland Magazine, January 2015.
  15. ↑ Piorkowski, Jeff (18 December 2014). "The Gasp Menagerie: Book Catalogs America's Horror Houses". Dread Central. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Frank Chung, "Thirteen real life haunted houses and the horror stories that go with them," news.com.au, October 31, 2014.
  17. ↑ Jordan G. Teicher, "These Are America’s Spookiest Homes," Slate, October 31, 2014.
  18. ↑ "13 Spooky-Looking Houses That Have Inspired Ghost Stories (UPDATE)". Huffington Post. Published October 29, 2014; updated February 22, 2016.
  19. ↑ "A tour of abandoned New Orleans, 10 years after Katrina - in pictures". The Guardian. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  20. ↑ "You Won't Be Visiting These Abandoned Amusement Parks This July Fourth". Slate. 2015-07-04. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  21. ↑ Smith, Aaron. "Scenes from abandoned amusement parks". Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  22. ↑ "Abandoned Amusement Parks From Seph Lawless". ABC News. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  23. ↑ "'Abandoned' steps inside Northeast Ohio's dead malls". WKYC. Ryan Haidet. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  24. ↑ "Cleveland's dead malls featured on premiere of Viceland's 'Abandoned'". Cleveland. Joey Morona. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  25. ↑ Simpson, Isaac (6 November 2016). "A Famous Urban Explorer Is Fighting Trespassing Charges After Being Arrested by the Cleveland Cops". Vice. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  26. ↑ "From Doom to Boom: Home to RNC, Cleveland Is Surging After Years of Urban Decay". Inside Edition. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  27. ↑ Teicher, Jordan G. "These Are America's Spookiest Homes". Behold. Slate. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  28. ↑ Leeson, Jeff (25 March 2015). "Inside an abandoned NASCAR speedway that has run its final lap". Mashable. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  29. ↑ "Creepy haunted train found abandoned deep in the Ohio woods - and its already being eyed as a set for the Walking Dead". 21 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  30. ↑ Sutyak, Kara (9 July 2015). "Photos: Local photographer takes you inside abandoned 'train wreck' that looks like a horror movie". Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  31. ↑ Blakinger, Keri (22 October 2015). "These haunting images of abandoned houses will send chills down your spine". Daily News. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  32. ↑ Liotta, Paul (25 September 2015). "Photographer takes a different shot of abandoned mall for each season". Daily News. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  33. ↑ Sim, David (3 March 2016). "America's most toxic place: Inside a real-life ghost town, surrounded by mountains of hazardous waste". International Business Times. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  34. ↑ Cahill, Mike (31 March 2015). "A Man Stumbled Into An Old, Broke-Down Theater - What He Found Inside Is Amazing". Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  35. ↑ "Abandoned Amusement Parks From Seph Lawless". ABCnews. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  36. 1 2 Piorkowski, Jeff (18 December 2014). "Beachwood Library hosts Seph Lawless photo exhibit on decay of American structures, institutions; Cleveland artist gains worldwide recognition". Sun News. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  37. ↑ http://arkansasfreepress.net/Index/content/view/4255/70/
  38. ↑ http://www.littlerocksoiree.com/post/103103/dates-set-for-arkansas-literary-festival

External links

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