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Statement My focus has long been the landscape. My use of the term 'landscape' is based in the writings of John Brinkerhoff Jackson. His use of the term went back to the source word, the German landschaften, which referred to that which results when 'man' reconfigures (e.g., digs the grid of ditches in Ohio) and uses the land, in essence creating his own landscape on the natural landscape. Jackson, and others, have proposed using the term 'cultural geography' to refer to observing this aspect of the land. I try to avoid the usual 'man destroying nature' view, concentrating instead on the more complex issues of our relationship with nature, the effects natural forces have on us, and our attempts to 'control' or use the land. I’m also interested in how the shape of the land affects what we do with it and how we use it. For example, in the Ohio images we seem to be on the dominant side of our relationship with nature. In fact, there is a constant effort just to maintain a fragile status quo. Without routinely digging out the drainage ditches, even annual tilling would not prevent the area from becoming unusable. How tenuous our control really is! Another example is The Farmington River. The West Branch is dammed by two flood control dams built after a '100 year storm' in 1955 flooded much of the upper river areas under depths up to 20 feet above normal, destroying many houses and bridges. These dams not only prevent severe flooding, they also control water levels, making them artificially more consistent and, thus, the river more 'usable'. Abstraction and Documentary Even though the best way to describe my work may be documentary landscape, abstraction is an equally important element. This can also be described as formalism: concentrating on the forms themselves without respect to what they are, whether they be buildings, signs, trees, the land, etc. While the images have the specific place or subject as their impetus, on an individual basis they are very likely to be the result of a reaction to the abstract forms present. Describing work as abstract and documentary may seem contradictory: how can anything abstract accurately document something? Photography allows us to see the world in ways that are not usually obvious in direct observation. It can reveal the abstract, the order or the chaos in the world, sometimes all at once! One of the best aspects of photography is the element of chance: frequently and unexpectedly, it can show us things we never knew were 'there'. Approaching a subject with abstraction in mind can very easily document the subject by revealing aspects of it not ordinarily obvious.
For example, in the Ohio Horizon series, almost all of the images were made one quarter to one mile from the subject. When viewing from this distance, perspective is greatly foreshortened. The vast spaces that comprise much of the area are revealed. The result is deceptive. While it seems to show the relationships in building patterns, lining up everything, almost forming visual lists or inventories, it only does so along the plain parallel to the viewer. Distances from the viewer are compressed, distorting and forming other relationships. Restricting the view to just the thin strip of the horizon accentuates this. It also allows more information on the horizon to be revealed. The final result is both documentary and abstract.
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