Matthew Basile and Studio 9½

I grew up near Fort Ord, a military base that was decommissioned when I was young. By the time I started to wander around with a camera, searching for inspiration, Fort Ord had become a rundown, dilapidated cluster of buildings; what a great playground for a budding photographer!

One of my favorite things I discovered was something called “Fallout Shelter 9½.” I saw no 10, nor 9. There was only 9½ left. Why were they even created in half steps? Where did 9 and 10 go? It was all very odd, and thus became the name of design portfolio.