James Casebere and Landscape with Houses

Since the mid-1970s, James Casebere has been making photographs of tabletop models which he builds in his studio. The subject of his work ranges from suburban interiors to institutional structures, inspired by political events and social issues. In his photographs, these models often give the impression of reality. Each image transports viewers into an  ambiguous environment, evoking a sense of emotional place.

For this documentary, the filmmaker Rima Yamazaki visited the artist’s studio in Brooklyn on a regular basis, from the spring of 2009 to the fall of 2010, and documented the process of making the series titled Landscape with Houses, for which he built his largest model to date. As the subprime mortgage crisis occurred, Casebere became interested in American suburban neighborhoods, and started building a model of an American suburban landscape.

The film mainly consists of the sequences shot in an observational style, and a sit-down interview conducted in May 2010.