Funded by a pilot grant from Wilfrid Laurier University, Abandonment/Return/Renewal looks at the ecology of home ownership in rural Nova Scotia. The previous rural-to-urban demographic shift brought with it impacts that are shared throughout the Maritimes. In concert with an aging population, rural areas have become more sparsely populated and families no longer concentrate in their hometowns. As older family members pass away, their younger relatives do not return to take over the family home; as a result, Nova Scotia has seen a growth in the number of abandoned properties. For this and other reasons, homes have been left to fall apart. Over time these properties have also been subject to vandalism and other misuses and have come to represent social disorganization within the community. The recent shift in population, however, has meant that in some areas of Nova Scotia, these abandoned properties have been purchased by people moving to the province. In other areas, these properties remain undesirable and fall further into ruin.
In this work, I imagine the past, document the present, and envisions the future of these homes. Through photography and digital design, I am producing images of homes that honour their history and explore possibilities of return and renewal.
