Please join Synkroniciti in welcoming back photographer Jason Baldinger of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. A poet himself, Jason’s artwork appears here in ekphrastic collaboration with Kansan poet Robert L. Dean, Jr. Luna Pier, Michigan, paired with Dean’s stunning meditation on loneliness and what might have been, “Luna Pier,” shows us an empty boardwalk overlooking Lake Erie, a tempestuous sky swirling overhead. As is usually the case, Jason avoids human figures, providing a naked view of place that feels apocalyptic. We sense a frigid wind and the solitude of the scene is palpable. In Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, paired with Dean’s “A Blossom Fell,” a vining bush clings to the side of a decaying building, the sign reading Fields Mfg Co and advertising Pepsi. The harsh light on the subjects recalls the sun beating down mercilessly, as if in judgement over their coupling. There are so many old manufacturing facilities, especially in small midwestern towns, which are being reabsorbed into the wild, a testament to the tenacity of nature and the prevalence of human junk slowing rotting in place. Jason documents with a perceptive eye the state of neglect that semi-rural America and places all over the world are experiencing at the end of industrialization.
Experience Jason’s insightful Photography alongside Dean’s exquisite poetry in Synkroniciti’s “Haunting” issue, available for pre-order here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Jason Baldinger is a poet and photographer from Pittsburgh, PA. He is the co-editor of Trailer Park Quarterly and co-runs The Odd-Month Reading Series. He’s penned fifteen books of poetry, the newest of which include A History of Backroads Misplaced: Selected Poems 2010-2020 (Kung Fu Treachery), and American Aorta (OAC Books). His first book of photography, Lazarus (OAC Books),was recently released. He has two ekphrastic collaborations (with poets Rebecca Schumejda and Robert Dean) forthcoming as well as his fourth collaboration with Kansas City poet James Benger. His work has appeared across a wide variety of online sites and print journals. You can hear him read from various books on Bandcamp and on lps by The Gotobeds and Theremonster.