cit i zen n. 1. a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection (distinguished from alien). 2. an inhabitant of a city or town, esp. one entitled to its privileges or franchises. 3. an inhabitant or denizen: The deer is a citizen of our woods.

City Hall is the civic center of a city. In Buffalo it forms the symbolic center of the city from which all roads disperse. My project serves a documentarion function to record a portion of the city's citizens. I will follow the diverse ethnic make up of the city and attempt to proportion the photographs in accordance with its ethniticity.

The process of the project is my major focus. With each encounter I ask the same question, "What does it mean to be a citizen?" I am recording the answers on a mini cassette recorder and transcribing them in order that responses configure in the finished piece. I then photograph each person and record their identity by their first name. The photographs are taken with the subjects in front of a neutral background in order to isolate them from their surroundings and for the pictures to focus souly on the person.

It is my own feeling, and I believe the feeling of others, that we are disconnected and in some cases disenfranchised from our city and its civic processes. This project is a modest attempt at changing that. It quite literally gives a voice to Buffalo citizens. And with the installation in City Hall the citizens are physically placed, if only through representation, in the building. It is my hope that the project will bring people to their City Hall, for the exhibition, and after. I have found thus far that when given the chance to be heard, people are often eager to speak.

The photographs will be interspersed throughout the viewing space on the 25 floor and above. I have been experimenting with backlit film as a printing surface. This enables the images to be placed within the windows, enabling the subjects to metaphorically look into City Hall while simultaneously looking out onto the city of Buffalo.