Artist Statement
Growing up on a sheep ranch in Wyoming, I learned first-hand what it was like from my parents to work hard and provide for your family. From this experience, I learned how to handle the struggles of not being able to hire people to help work on the ranch. I learned the vicissitudes that would cause downfall to the sheep ranch from the economy. As I got older, I have watched America start to downshift from their middle-class worker. The United States wants to be the best country as technology starts to intertwine through careers, creating a separation in the work field.
I traveled to Italy to study abroad and learn a completely new culture. There was no way to prepare for the lifelong adjustment and changing that would occur. Making friends with the locals and learning about the economy has created a new thought process for my life. I have learned through the farmers and ranchers that it is illegal to irrigate their crops, creating dry hay for their livestock to eat. Farmers are hanging on by a thread finding niches to keep afloat from large corporation farms and laws taking over. Some of these niches are creating wine, olive oil, and Pecorino cheese to sell to family and friends.
The United States is starting to go through these transitions. Living in Wyoming, I am witnessing that the breadwinner is disappearing. If countries allow these trends to continue taking over the middle-class jobs, we will become ghosts and struggle as immigrants flighting to new countries to beg on streets for enough to buy food. Italy has started to see this and it is not the only country about to see these harsh conditions.
Through this project, I created a diptych utilizing black and white mixed with color. The black and white photographs represent artisans and middle-class worker jobs that are slowly disappearing in Italy. The job that is replacing the craft is showcased through color representing here and now.
This project is design to create questions in the viewer’s mind the next time they go shopping or the next time they hire a contractor. It is design for the viewer to start asking questions of why they are buying a product made by a machine over the product made by man. Each generation tries to make it better for the next one to come. Advancing in technology has made it more efficient and quicker to do a job. The more advanced we get with technology does this mean more or less jobs for the common breadwinner?
History of Italy’s Economy
Italy was a divided kingdom before 1861. Habsburg Empire controlled most of the minor kingdoms in 1861, during this time Italy was united. Count Cavour wore many hats in Italy. He was the Minister of Marine, Commerce and Agriculture in 1850, the Minister of Finance in 1851, and the Prime Minister in 1852. There was a major regional division between the Northern and Southern parts of Italy. The northern region dominated in politics and in the economy. Northern Italy created high tariffs upon importing wheat, one of the Souths most popular product. The tariffs helped Southern Italy; the southern farms were producing products sold in France. When France could not sell its products of Italy then the farmers of southern Italy could not sell crops. These tariffs ended up creating more economic problems for southern Italy than intended on. Soon farmers could not keep upfloat and the living conditions became unbearable. Many fled the south migrating to Northern Italy or to America.
When he died the Kingdom of Italy experience a decline in its progress toward industrialization creating a long pathway for the country until 1890 when Italy slowly began to industrialize. After WWI socialists and communists created turmoil in Italy. These groups won most of the city governments organizing the Fascist Party to take control of the Italian government. Mussolini the operator behind the party became ruler of Italy as a dictator in the late 1920’s an allied with Hitler during WWII. When the war was over, and Italy was defeated, their transportation and housing was destroy. Besides the poor economy in natural resources and agriculture land not being very productive, Banca d’Italia added inflation through extensive issue of paper money. The Italian Government owned 80 percent of the shipbuilding industry, 60 percent of the pig iron industry and 40 percent of the industry for the building railway rolling stock. In 1940’s the country focused on communications, electricity, shipping, shipbuilding, steel, and engineering.
After WWII Italy lost most of its industrialization and manufactures. Italy remained as a lower economy country and each time it started to succeed through the economic world, something would happen to create a recession.
One of the most important pillars of the economy is the production of high-quality products such as in the machinery, textiles, industrial designs, alimentary and furniture sectors. Artisans became part of the growth through the backbone of the economy. As technology has embraced the future and the world has developed ways to make mass production, these breadwinner jobs are decreasing. Technology is replacing many jobs, machines replace workers, and mass productions from corporations are putting ma and pa businesses out into the streets.
Credits: Tanya Hamner
"Academy of Art University, Photography Study Abroad Class, Summer 2018"