Rather than construct models in my studio or pose situations to photograph, I locate scenarios that already frame space for vision and use: stadium seating that facilitates a view of the manicured field, a water park that furnishes the enjoyment of a landscape while mimicking its form, a corral of mobile homes whose presence transforms the landscape into a scenic background for domestic and touristic use. My photographs then frame these scenes once more. A wide angle displays both the existing framing device and its scenic view.

Tourism is the system with which we meditate this modern social environment. Tourism depends on distance. It separates home and the familiar from the other place. We want to go elsewhere for experience that we cannot enjoy locally. When we finally arrive at our destination, we often do not discover new experiences, but continue to negotiate our environment through structures similar to those at home: museums, organized tours, vacation packages. Highly seductive sites and images attract tourists, but the tourist cannot eliminate his distanced position. It is impossible to reach the desired ideal destination as long as it is perceived as being elsewhere.

It is possible to have this touristic distance in everyday life. The tourist is removed from his surroundings; he is out of place. In this way, I am a visitor to all the scenes I photograph. They are familiar arenas, organized for a social activity that is not pictured. Yet I am only a sightseer, not a participant.