Michael J. Mullady

American Nightmare: The Foreclosure Crisis, Antioch, California 2009

Michael J. Mullady (b. 1983, United States) is a recent graduate of San Francisco State University where he studied Photojournalism and Anthropology while interning at various newspapers. He is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and has been published domestically and internationally in numerous publications. Michael’s work was recognized in the 2009 PDN Photo Annual and was awarded the Marty Forscher Fellowship for Humanistic Photography from the Parson’s School for Design in NYC. In 2008 and 2009, his portfolio was awarded College Photographer of the Year from The White House News Photographers Association. Recently, with representation from Redux, Michael worked in both Haiti and Chile covering the social effects of natural disasters. He is  based in San Francisco but is currently in Peru, working on a personal project.

About the Photograph:

“Following nearly a decade of exponential growth in the housing market, in recent years the United States faced one of the biggest financial crises of the past half century. Declining home values and sharp interest rate resets have combined to drive foreclosures to record levels. California, which saw some of the greatest increases in housing prices, was hit particularly hard by the foreclosure crisis. California has the second highest foreclosure rate in the country, with one filing for every 88 households. In Antioch, CA, many of the homeowners most affected by the crisis are immigrants, who got locked into bank loans and are now fighting to keep their homes. After ten years of living in the house he made into a home, Jamie Silahua and his family were forced out by their bank after failing to keep up with the minimum payment. In this image, with the eviction date closing in, Jamie Silahua moves his belongings from the home he purchased nine years ago while his daughters Aimee and Emily play in the living room.