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State of Nature
“It has multiple meanings. One can look at it as an environmental disaster, one can look at it as human progress, one can look at it from the point of view of artistic merit and whether it captures the imagination and a sense of wonder.” - Edward Burtynsky, Canadian photographer
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My collection of photos titled “A 3-Year Project” is based on a highway construction site in King City, a town in Ontario known for its rolling hills and clustered forests. At the center of the construction site lays two bridges positioned parallel to one another. While vehicles barrel by above the bridge, underneath we find an array of construction equipment, garbage, and wiring haphazardly embedded in the land. Between the two bridges is an open field surrounded by concrete walls. This forms an allusion of a stadium in the centre of the construction site that appears small from a distance but substantial up close.
There is a contrast between the abandoned site below the bridge, and the aggregation of human activity above the bridge. The details within the soil and walls resemble a mix of impressionism and post-modern art. The garbage bag, the pile of stones, the orange pylons, the danger signs, the plastic tubing, the fragmented wood, in addition to the concrete borders that stretch through the surrounding forest, captures the crudeness of human design and development in a ravaged countryside. I wanted to raise questions such as “what have we done" and “where are we going.” Similar to Edward Burtynsky’s environmental photography, my photos challenge viewers’ perspective on human development, based on the idea that “we have our boot on nature’s neck.”
There is a contrast between the abandoned site below the bridge, and the aggregation of human activity above the bridge. The details within the soil and walls resemble a mix of impressionism and post-modern art. The garbage bag, the pile of stones, the orange pylons, the danger signs, the plastic tubing, the fragmented wood, in addition to the concrete borders that stretch through the surrounding forest, captures the crudeness of human design and development in a ravaged countryside. I wanted to raise questions such as “what have we done" and “where are we going.” Similar to Edward Burtynsky’s environmental photography, my photos challenge viewers’ perspective on human development, based on the idea that “we have our boot on nature’s neck.”
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