Lori Nix, Circulation Desk, 2012

Lori Nix imagines the future collapse of civilization. She builds small models of disaster scenes out of cardboard, foam and glue, then photographs them using a large 8×10 camera. The intricate dioramas have astonishing detail and convincingly depict scenes of urban collapse after some future apocalypse. At first sight, they seem to be documentary photographs, like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And she knows what she’s doing – growing up in the Tornado belt of Kansas, she witnessed the same sort of destruction she creates in her studio.

Nix exhibits with the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago and has also produced a Blurb book of The City which you can look through and purchase online (for as little as $41.00, a bargain).