What Remains to be Seen

These photographs posses a longevity that the landscapes do not. “What Remains to be Seen” examines environmental change in some of the most at risk areas of our world including the arctic, rainforests, wetlands, and glaciers. With each image there is a story of loss, fragility and impending doom.     

Recently the rise of landscapes becoming politicized has emerged within western culture, where the importance of the landscape is reduced to the events that take place on or to it. So how should photography operate within this socio-political sphere? I believe that by showing images of threatened land is important as time is becoming increasingly fleeting and we need to make meaningful changes in how we treat the world now. Furthermore how we portray our everyday world has shifted. Relying on shock to catch the viewer’s attention has dulled our emotional response to images. When we start to focus on spectacle alone we lose sight of what is actually being talked about. Photography’s reliance on monumental scale, over-sharpened, and hyper saturated imagery has changed how we interact with the art. For many this has had the effect of reducing our appreciation of the everyday ordinary and the quiet beauty of the landscape. I attempt to bridge that disconnect through working with film and platinum palladium process which presents a subtle tonality and richness of prints that give life to the landscapes presented.  

Working with historic processes in the darkroom gives me time and solitude to reflect on my own contribution towards climate change. I am not unaware of the impact of long distance travel that was required to photograph these images but I believe that if the images can capture people’s attention to inspire change than their purpose will be fulfilled. Through this series I attempt to cause pause so we can examine our direct impact on tenuous areas that could very well be lost within our lifetime if a change is not made soon. All prints within the series are platinum palladium contact prints that are hand coated and printed in the darkroom and are each an edition of 5.