The photographer Phillip Buehler has devoted his career to exploring obsolete sites, what he calls “modern ruins.” Captured in states of evocative decay, his subjects have included an abandoned psychiatric asylum, a Cold War missile silo and an offline power plant.
In late 2019, Buehler's body of work on view in the exhibition “Mallrat to Snapchat: The End of the Third Place” — at Front Room Gallery, in New York — may have elicited more nostalgia than the others. It was a look at New Jersey’s defunct Wayne Hills Mall and, by extension, at the dying culture of middle-class suburban shopping centers across the country.
"I started photographing abandoned places the same year the mall opened, 1973, when I was a senior in high school," Buehler told The Study. "At the time, New York was falling apart, with empty piers and abandoned or burned-out buildings everywhere. Back then, nobody was photographing them, so I had no art references — most were cinematic. Two films released in 1968 made a big impression on me: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes."
Browse a collection of Phillip Buehler's photography on 1stDibs.
| Average Sold Price |
| $2,000 |
| Styles |
| Materials |
| Related Artists |
$1,850
H 18 in W 24 in
"Thunderbolt" a limited edition photograph from Coney Island, 1997
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts The Thunderbolt roller coaster, which was built in 1925, abandoned in 1982, and demolished 2000. It ...
Photographic Paper
$6,500
H 40 in W 60 in
"Registry"historic photograph Ellis Island, 1974 abandoned site, large scale
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
40"x60" large scale limited edition historic color photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts an abandoned immigration station (which closed in 1954) where 13 million immigrant...
Photographic Paper
$6,500
H 40 in W 60 in
"Dream City" historic photograph Manhattan's Twin Towers World Trade Center 1974
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
40"x60" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This historic photograph depicts the recently completed World Trade Center shot from tip of Ellis Island in 1974. The mist w...
Photographic Paper
$1,850
H 18 in W 24 in
"Farm Colony Greenhouse" a limited edition photograph from Staten Island, 2023
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts a poorhouse where residents had to work, mostly by farming, to feed the colony’s residents as well a...
Photographic Paper
$1,850
H 18 in W 24 in
"Tillie" a limited edition photograph from Coney Island, 1997
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts the mascot of Steeplechase Park beginning in 1897, named after park founder George C. Tilyou. “Tilli...
Photographic Paper
Thunderbolt Sign, Coney Island
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
edition of 5, signed on reverse. This photograph was taken in 2000 of the the Thunderbolt rollercoaster in Coney Island prior to its demolition. The Thunderbolt was a wooden roller...
Pigment
$1,850
H 18 in W 24 in
"Registry" a limited edition photograph from Ellis Island, 1974 abandoned site
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts an abandoned immigration station (which closed in 1954) where 13 million immigrants were registered ...
Photographic Paper
$3,500
H 30 in W 40 in
"Dream City" historic photograph from Manhattan's Twin Towers, 1974
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
30"x40" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts the recently completed World Trade Center shot from tip of Ellis Island in 1974. The mist was only t...
Photographic Paper
| Sold Date | Sold Price | Category | Medium | Creation Year | ||||||
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| $2,000 |
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months |
| $1,600-$2,400 |
| Sold price range of items in the past 12 months |