Brian Ulrich is far from the only artist to take American consumerism as his theme, but he may be the one with the best timing

摘要

It was in 2001 that Ulrich, a photographer based in Chicago, began a wide-ranging exploration of consumer culture, a project called Copia. In the first two phases of the project, "Retail" and "Thrift," he documented the buying habits of the middle and lower classes, capturing a historic boom in consumption.rnAt the boom's height, back in 2005, Ulrich often would drive by a closed-up grocery store near his home. Bounded by a strip of asphalt below and a ribbon of night sky above, it looked, he thought, a bit like a Rothko painting. He took some photos, but didn't come across many other shuttered stores. At least, not until the epic bust, which he also was on hand to chronicle.