Secondary Refuse / Latent Ground (2010-2011) is a series of photographs capturing radioactive residue from the site of the first manmade nuclear reaction, conducted in 1942 beneath the former Stagg Field stadium at the University of Chicago. Part of the Manhattan Project, this event marked the beginning of the atomic age, unleashing forces that continue to shape global histories and landscapes.

In collaboration with Everett Lawson, I developed custom-built cameras capable of detecting gamma radiation still emanating from the site nearly seventy years later. These gamma-sensitive devices were fitted with electromagnetic cowlings to deflect interference and were bolted directly to the ground. Each exposure, lasting between 8 and 16 hours, allowed radiation to gradually inscribe itself onto the photographic medium, its path interrupted by buried debris or structures just beneath the surface. The resulting images function like photograms of the ground, recording not visible light but the lingering presence of nuclear energy.

What emerges are slow, spectral impressions of invisible forces: hazy, luminous, and sometimes uncertain forms produced by the toxic residue of a historic reaction. These images operate as both evidence and metaphor, evoking latency and unresolved transformation. By making visible what remains buried in the earth, the series reflects on legacies that persist long after their moment of origin, quietly embedded beneath the surface of daily life.