My new book and print edition...

The biggest reason why the BUFFET has been so quiet recently.

I'm excited to offer a pre-publication Print-Of-Choice edition of my upcoming book HABOOB. One could say it is the evil step-sister of HIGLEY from 2007. This will be my third book with Kehrer.

Since the housing-crash of 2008, I have continued photographing in the East Valley of Phoenix in the area around Higley, AZ, once the boom-town of the "American Dream" banking on unlimited growth and urban sprawl.

"The new frontier in the West is the ever-expanding urban fringe. HABOOB is a mesmerizing portrait of a small desert town caught in the crossfire between land speculators and beneficiaries of the growth machine. The result is a pictorial document of civilization and barbarism.”

 Andrew Ross. Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City

Called by their Arabic name, the East Valley is famous for destructive haboob sanstorms. As Higley's vision of the new american dream recedes, the haboob is a fitting metaphor, representing the fear and instability that have become so prevalent in the US urban middle class and its identity is once again being reformed, reshaped.

With "Haboob" photographer Andrew Phelps picks up again where his photo series "Higley" left off, which was published in 2007 by Kehrer Verlag. Higley, a small town in Arizona that was once devoted to agriculture, was gradually engulfed by the explosive growth of the neighboring metropolis of Phoenix, and ultimately disappeared from the map altogether in 2007. Rural structures dissolved, replaced by shopping malls and faceless developments of new detached houses; village roads became broad and showy boulevards.Returning just a few years later, however, the photographer came upon a completely different scene. The financial and real-estate crisis put an abrupt end to the building boom, and the idyllic suburban dream was shattered. The destructive sandstorms typical for Arizona’s desert landscape, known as haboobs, now sweep, a symbol of the fear and anxiety gripping today’s American middle class. Andrew Phelps takes a very personal look at the global plight, at what remains of the American dream when the capitalist facade caves in. (Kehrer)

The book:
Hardcover
31x25 cm
ca. 136 pages


The Special Edition:
1 signed and numbered book with 
Archival Pigment Print, 30x36 cm
of any image in the book (ca. 45)
Edition of 100.


112,- Euro + shipping.


To order, get more info here of just send me an email aphelps(at)gmx.net


Here are just a few images to tease, I will be in Arizona for the next month finalizing the project and the final book should offer enough for everyone to find a favorite!