Manufactured Landscapes (final images)

Artist Statement:

My approach to this assignment was to find signs of man’s obvious intrusion into nature. In many of the photos I deliberately chose scenes where man completely blocks the view to nature as seen in my photo of a green building with a red truck obscuring our view to the forest behind them. However, I also wanted to show the beauty nature provides by placing it in front of man while simultaneously showing man’s invasion upon nature. This was done most successfully in my photo of a minivan placed right behind a large tree in which the van seems to pierce right through the tree itself. In one of my other photos, I captured a beautiful set of shrubs with fresh snow on the branches with a red jeep juxtaposed behind it, the driveway being an area man has cleared and cut off the growth of the shrubs. In another photo, I came across a red barn. To me the barn represented the face of man, the doors being the eyes while the windows are its teeth. I shot a full frontal “portrait” of it putting us face to face with man while standing in the field of nature. My last and final image just happens to be my favorite. A telephone pole standing perfectly straight amongst the chaos of gnarled branches going off in all different directions. While nature’s branches run free and untamed full of emotion, man’s structure protrudes in front standing stoic, apathetic, and invasive. I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this project while I was completely at a loss upon first encountering the thought of shooting landscapes. Nevertheless the struggle, I’m glad for the opportunity of a challenge.