Field Book

‘Field Book' is a body of work that I began in 2016, while working as a Land Surveyor for the City of Tucson, Arizona. Learning the trade from my father from the early age of 12, each day I would walk through the desert landscape, using GPS to mark property boundaries and record map coordinates. I became interested in the way that land surveys and photographic expeditions recorded the landscape and, in so doing, shaped historic conceptions of the American West. From the photographers who accompanied the early survey expeditions, to the documentary surveys of the FSA in the 1930’s, photography has been essential to characterizing the shifting social and physical landscape of the western United States. Drawing on the early lineage of documentary surveys of the west, this work focuses on those who have typically been left out of the heroic stories of the western frontier, and remain on the periphery of urban expansion. 'Field Book' compiles archival survey documents with my own photographs of childhood friends, strangers and landscapes to create a visual survey of the city that raised me: Tucson, Arizona.

I have long conceived of this work in book form. The field book throughout land surveying history has served as a record of the individual as well as the landscape they documented. Much like the survey field books which detail the physical traverse across a specified region, 'Field Book' consists of my own photographic records alongside archival documents of the landscape and survey maps as I survey each area. I am currently in the process of sequencing images with plans of publishing a small edition of hand-made copies of ‘Field Book’. By positioning historic records of the land alongside contemporary portraits and landscapes, I hope to ignite a comparison between the rapid geographic growth and the unchanged reality of those who inhabit the periphery. In doing so, this work functions similar to the early documentary surveys to examine the priorities of those planning our cities to explore how we may be able to extend economic resources to those who remain in less accessible regions of the country.

Over the past year, this work has been included in group exhibitions at the House of Lucie, Los Angeles; Filter Space, Chicago; Perspective Gallery, Chicago; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson; and has received a solo exhibition at Columbia College Chicago’s C33 gallery. It has been published in Fotofilmic’s JRNL 3, and was awarded Columbia College Chicago’s 2020 Albert P. Weisman award. One of the works will also be added to the Center for Creative Photography’s permanent exhibition archive as of May 2020.

© Jordan Putt - South Fontana Ave, 2017
i

South Fontana Ave, 2017

© Jordan Putt - Emery Park Plat Map, 1926; South 1st Ave, 2017
i

Emery Park Plat Map, 1926; South 1st Ave, 2017

© Jordan Putt - Morris Blvd, 2017
i

Morris Blvd, 2017

© Jordan Putt - Bilby Road After the Monsoon, 2018
i

Bilby Road After the Monsoon, 2018

© Jordan Putt - South Park Ave, 2019
i

South Park Ave, 2019

© Jordan Putt - Elijah, 2019
i

Elijah, 2019

© Jordan Putt - Pamela’s Soulmender, 2017
i

Pamela’s Soulmender, 2017

© Jordan Putt - Eric, 2020
i

Eric, 2020

© Jordan Putt - Precious, 2017
i

Precious, 2017

© Jordan Putt - Naya, 2018
i

Naya, 2018

© Jordan Putt - Sunkist Acres Plat Map, 1964; Sunkist Acres Ariel Map, 1974
i

Sunkist Acres Plat Map, 1964; Sunkist Acres Ariel Map, 1974

© Jordan Putt - South Country Club Rd, 2019
i

South Country Club Rd, 2019

© Jordan Putt - Arturo, 2019
i

Arturo, 2019

© Jordan Putt - South Westover Ave, 2018
i

South Westover Ave, 2018

© Jordan Putt - Antonio, 2019
i

Antonio, 2019

© Jordan Putt - Maia and Riley, 2018
i

Maia and Riley, 2018

© Jordan Putt - West Century Dr, 2018
i

West Century Dr, 2018

© Jordan Putt - Super Antojitos Salvadoreños, 2018
i

Super Antojitos Salvadoreños, 2018

© Jordan Putt - South Kinney Rd, 2018
i

South Kinney Rd, 2018

© Jordan Putt - Gates Pass, 2017; Gates Pass Topographic Map, 1928
i

Gates Pass, 2017; Gates Pass Topographic Map, 1928

Latest Projects

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Stay in the loop


We will send you weekly news on contemporary photography. You can change your mind at any time. We will treat your data with respect. For more information please visit our privacy policy. By ticking here, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.