The People's Trust by Michael Vahrenwald -Special Edition with Print

The People’s Trust is a study of the changing financial institution, specifically the repurposed remains of 19^th and 20^th century banks across the United States.

The monumentality of these neo-classical facades stands in contrast with their new roles as liquor stores, pawn shops, churches, department stores and pharmacies.  The work is in keeping with Vahrenwald’s investigation of locations where landscape, politics, and economics intersect, and poses questions as to what value can be derived from photographing the built world.  In the case of ‘The People’s Trust,’ layers of history and time are inscribed onto false fronts of capitalistic glory.

This book includes an essay by Wolfgang Scheppe and a poem by Richard Brautigan.