The Holdouts is the debut photobook by American photographer Ben Marcin, set to be published this summer. It offers a unique view of the city of Baltimore and its surrounding areas through three very different sets of homes.
We are taken to marginalized homes and houses, some as old as 250 years, others just months old, found in and around Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Marcin shows us solo row houses in the inner city that somehow survived the wrecking ball; abandoned houses on the Eastern Shore where the last generations of families either passed away or moved on after decades of farming the land; and temporary homeless camps in the city, none of which have ever survived for more than a year.
The title for the book comes from the term ‘holdout,’ a common real estate term that describes a property owner who refuses to sell a building or lot to a developer, thus greatly hindering the completion of a larger, community-based project. Sometimes eminent domain is invoked to force an owner to vacate a property for the common good but, in other cases, the larger project is simply built around the house. Many of Marcin’s houses have become abandoned over the course of time but others are still surprisingly occupied. Taken together, they demonstrate an astute understanding of the vernacular of Baltimore and the Eastern Shore.
He says, ‘Strictly speaking, none of my houses or campsites would be considered real estate holdouts. No shopping centre, highway overpass or gambling casino ever took their place. However, they do personify a more straightforward definition of what a holdout is, namely, the act of resisting something or refusing to accept what is offered.’
‘I have been photographing the places where people live for almost forty years. At first, I did this primarily on my trips around the world but, over time, I withdrew closer and closer to home until I found myself working on sites just a short distance from my own house (in Baltimore). In short, I began to understand where I live.’
