‘Post script’ – American post offices remembered
In 2011, the United States Postal Service announced 3,653 rural post offices would close. More than 1,000 of the condemned are located in the South. Several thousand locations have since been added to this list of erasure—in both region and nation—as the postal service struggles to hold on in an increasingly digitized world. The fate of the rural post office remains unclear.
The post office serves as town center in many rural communities. Often acting as a town’s sole address, this location embodies the numerical identity of place. Without its presence in the landscape, a ZIP code is lost.
Yet residents remain anchored in place. In spite of post office departure or a vanished code, the home stands. Attachment to land lingers, rooted deeper than digits. (Rachel Boillot)
Rachel Boillot (b. 1987) is a photographer, documentary artist and educator. She holds a BFA in photography from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and an MFA in experimental and documentary Arts from Duke University. Rachel’s photography has been acquired for several permanent collections worldwide. Her work can also be found in book form: Post Script (2014) and Silent Ballad (2015). She currently teaches in the art department at Lincoln Memorial University, works as an assistant producer at Sandrock Recordings, and maintains her own photographic practice in East Tennessee.
‘Post script’ by Rachel Boillot exhibition opening, slideshow, and discussion led by Anna Van Lenten, Director, LightField - Tuesday, July 19, 2016, 7:30 p.m., are part of the ongoing The Half King Photo Series in New York City. On view through September 10.
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