The Reefing of the USS Radford

With his third solo show, “The Reefing of USS Radford,” opening tomorrow night at The Front Room Gallery, Stephen Mallon once again brings us photographs of something we don’t usually see. This time it’s a decommissioned Navy ship being dismantled and sunk for use as an underwater eco system for underwater life. As part of his ongoing series “American Reclamation” Mallon gives us a look at the incredible breadth of these former battleships, and what it takes to rip apart a ship 563 feet long.

What I love about Mallon's work is it's grandeur. It's little child in the big world sense of wonderment. You just know that he has as much fun shooting as I have looking at the photographs. So go tomorrow night and see these wonderful photographs of water and steel. You can almost hear the splash as the ship goes down.