Welcome to Boomtown USA, or so read a large roadside sign outside of Williston, ND. The Bakken region of western North Dakota is in the midst of its third oil boom in the last 50 years or so. The oil world is a volatile one. Prices rise and fall, markets shift, fortunes are made and lost. Since 2008, sleepy North Dakota towns have been turned upside down by workers arriving from all over the world seeking their fortune through gritty work in the oil fields. Workers found plenty of jobs, but also high costs of living (particularly housing costs where Williston, ND was, for a while, the most expensive place to live in the U.S.).
I arrived in the in 2013 and began photographing the boom, and now its current slowdown. I am amazed at people's ingenuity and resilience to live and work in many of the conditions these people do. The larger body of work explores alterations to the landscape and housing options through RV's, "Man Camps", and new home construction.
I arrived in the in 2013 and began photographing the boom, and now its current slowdown. I am amazed at people's ingenuity and resilience to live and work in many of the conditions these people do. The larger body of work explores alterations to the landscape and housing options through RV's, "Man Camps", and new home construction.
