About The Exhibition
In 1960 Del Webb, an American developer, built the nation's first seniors-only community, 'Sun City' in Arizona USA, promoting 'an active new way of life' for retired citizens. The Del Webb Corp. now has 15 communities throughout the country, with as many as 10 percent of all Americans over 70 currently living in age-segregated communities.
According to photographer Peter Granser and writer Bill Donahue, Sun City is the antithesis of a wild place. 'There are no weeds in the sidewalk cracks or on the manicured expanses of its seven 18-hole golf courses. If you stroll through the cul-de-sacs at eight in the evening, all you will hear is the liquid whir of hundreds of air conditioners. Everyone is inside, gathering strength to do battle against the most chronic and brutal of natural forces, human decay.'
Peter Granser celebrates, with the fresh eye of a foreigner, a distinctly American hope. The people in these photographs are believers. They have worked 40 years at the insurance company, hardware store, tire factory and are determined to enjoy the leisure years they have earned.