“Tentative toe testings accompanied by an ever present whisper of doubt.” Sally Mann describing new directions in her work. This is so relatable, it describes exactly how I feel when I embark on a new direction. While Mann is engaged with new directions in portraiture, my engagement is concerned with the rice dryers and silos which I feel have their own personality and presence.

The Chicago brick was brought about by a fire in 1871. The O’Learys who had immigrated from Ireland lived on the Southwest side of Chicago. The story has it that their cow kicked over a lantern, and set the city ablaze. The cause of the blaze was never proven. It was a devastating event that claimed three hundred lives, and leveled city. The city changed the building regulations, stating that the new homes would only be built with bricks. These reclaimed bricks were used to build our own house. They would have been brought here via the MKT railway, which runs alongside the Silos.

MANN, Sally. 2015. Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs. First edition. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

SOCIETY, National Geographic. 2011. ‘The Chicago Fire of 1871 and the “Great Rebuilding”’. National Geographic Society [online]. Available at: http://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/chicago-fire-1871-and-great-rebuilding/ [accessed 8 Apr 2021].
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