WHEN THE DUST SETTLES
A photographic survey of the former Liggett & Myers tobacco factory in Durham, NC
by DL Anderson
On display October 17 – November 18, 2008

The 16 color photographs comprising WHEN THE DUST SETTLES were made in the former Liggett & Myers factory complex over the course of two and a half years, both before and during renovations by Blue Devil Partners (BDP). Commissioned in 2005 by BDP based upon a proposal by Anderson, the images are destined to grace the walls of the renovated locations in which they were photographed, the “before” picture hanging in the “after” space. WHEN THE DUST SETTLES will be on display and available for purchase at Through This Lens from October 17 to November 18, 2008.

With manufacturing moved to Mebane and renovations not yet begun, hard-hatted Anderson wandered the 992,000 square feet of quiet factory complex with his cameras, curiosity, and only a hawk and a few pigeons to keep him company. A layer of finely ground tobacco dust covered every surface. The warm brown and amber tones that pervade his photographs suggest they were shot through a tobacco colored scrim. As renovations commenced, demolition and sandblasting put debris in the air and kicked up the tobacco dust. As Anderson explains, “the title image for this show contains a pile of this sort of detritus, swept up by unseen hands after the sandblasting was complete. Now the dust has resettled, but in much smaller amounts and [is] covered up by carpet and wood flooring. It’s all beneath the surface. These photographs will serve as a reminder of that.”