Ephemeral Landscapes
This work aims to create imagery focusing on the ephemeral and it's connection with our modern perception of nature. The resulting images reference both the luminism of the Hudson River school painters and to a lesser extent, impressionism.
I disassembled a Polaroid 600 series camera and harvested the numerous plastic lenses located inside the body. I then removed the faceplate and single element plastic lens from fixed focal length digital camera body and, using duct tape, attached one of the harvested lenses in front of the digital camera sensor. The new lens is a single-piece plastic meniscus lens, not too far removed from the type found on holga cameras. This new lens and mount also create a slightly longer, varying focal-length. The new focal-length throws the imagery slightly out of focus, and when coupled with the optical characteristics of the lens, including strong chromatic aberration, the resulting imagery is created. Very minimal stylistic post processing then is applied to the photographs.
Pacific Northwest - Columbia River Gorge
Stretching over 80 miles the Columbia River Gorge spans the central boundary between Washington state and Oregon. The gorge supports a vast ecosystem and features a plethora of waterfalls. The area was once the home to numerous indigenous Indian tribes and was part of the route used by Lewis & Clark while forging the Oregon trail. A popular destination for visitors to the Pacific Northwest, the gorge features numerous trail heads and is often photographed.
As much as this area has remained the same, it has no doubt undergone many ecological changes since it's creation. Additionally, in the past century, mankind's forays along this stretch of the Columbia River have included logging, the creation of transportation corridors, and the creation of hydro-electric dams. Even when disregarding the past 200 years of change that has taken place in the area, it is incomprehensible to think it will resemble it's current state in the distant future.
Working with the environment and ephemeral, I attempt to embrace the flux of nature, filtering it through the blurred scope of the often incomprehensible passage of time. Rather than focusing the on detail, light, color, and mood become primary players in landscapes current narrative. Water erodes, wind whips, inhabitants migrate, and climate patterns change. Is it beauty or sublime? A slowly morphing landscape or a whirl wind of change?
Exhibition Images
12"x16" Archival Pigment Print on 13"x19" Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper.
