"Forgotten": Q&A With Sandy LeBrun-Evans

 MEG member Sandy LeBrun-Evans talks about, “Forgotten,” her new exhibit at Multiple Exposures Gallery:

“Forgotten,” features images from two abandoned Utah towns, Thompson Springs and Cisco. Why did you photograph them? I have always been fascinated by abandoned/lost things, places and towns. I saw some photos of Thompson Springs and knew I had to photograph it. I checked to see if there were other ghost towns in the area and I found Cisco.

Are these towns truly abandoned or do some people still reside in them? Cisco was truly abandoned; Thompson Springs still has a small population – 39 people in the 2010 Census.

Thompson Springs started as a station stop on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad in the late 1800’s. Later it thrived as crucial railhead for nearby coal mines, but it fell on hard times when mining declined, I-70 was built just two miles to the south and the passenger train station was relocated to another Utah town.

Cisco was also once an old Western Railroad watering stop and its demise came with the end of the steam engine. It survived into the 20th century long enough to acquire a zip code, but not much else. Today, vandals have damaged most of the town and its relics. They also seem to use it for target practice -- while photographing, I picked up at least 20 discharged gun casings.

Is it true Cisco was once a filming location for the movie Thelma & Louise? I’m obviously not the only one that finds that town haunting. Cisco was the backdrop for a number of scenes in Thelma & Louise.

What was your biggest challenge when photographing the towns? Going through places where I knew life existed and not feeling as if I were trespassing. Of course, I was also hoping I wasn’t disturbing any animals -- four-legged or two-legged!

Several of your most popular images in the series contain graffiti that add humor and humanize otherwise desolate scenes. Did you pick up on that when you were shooting or did that come to you when you saw the images later? I definitely picked up on the writing when photographing and I made sure they were part of the images.

This isn't the first series you've done featuring gritty scenes of abandonment (your Eastern State Penitentiary series leaps to mind). What draws you to them? I think it’s the loneliness of the images and the leftovers of a life once lived.

What’s next for you? I am working on some mixed media projects and there are some more abandoned/forgotten places that I hope to photograph soon.

“Forgotten,” Through October 2, 2011 at Multiple Exposures Gallery at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center, Alexandria, VA. Sandy LeBrun Evans: http://tinyurl.com/3wze7qp