The American consumer

Over the past seven years, photographer Brian Ulrich has taken photos of the American consumer culture. He dubbed his series the “Copia” project.

Ulrich’s series captures the ubiquitous excess and thick consumerism that are so common in stores throughout the US. He also keenly notes the correlation between the American citizen and the American consumer:

[After 9/11,] citizens were encouraged to take to the malls to boost the U.S. economy through shopping, thereby equating consumerism with patriotism. The Copia project, a direct response to that advice, is a long-term photographic examination of the peculiarities and complexities of the consumer-dominated culture in which we live.

Remind me to unleash a diatribe on supermarkets and retail stores later. But for now, suffice it to say that my work experiences in both of these establishments has scarred me for life. My animus definitely has something to do with the excessive fluorescent lighting and over-heated rhetoric that frequent these stores. This is a roundabout way of saying that the following photos struck a chord with me.

I’ve posted some of the photos that stood out to me. You can check the full album here under Projects » Copia » Retail.