New New Topographic School Portfolio Reprise, Part 1

They may look like boring images of nothing at first glance. After all, these are scenes we have all seen and now they probably don’t even register in our reptilian-mammalian brains as we drive past in our dinosaur-fueled chariots.

But, there is an intention with these photographs…

–Note what is included. I very often try to include within the frame a sense of what was and then what will be, along with the line of transition between the two.

–The Earth–the ground–is an important element. Often I will frame with more foreground–dirt and weeds–than you might think strictly necessary. That is because this is about what we are doing to the Earth.

–Note where the borders of the frame fall on the landscape. I am very careful to do a meticulous “border patrol” to include or exclude items from the image. Often, I’ll include a piece of new construction right on the edge…or a hint of what was…or a portion of the destruction that occurs as the transition from “undeveloped” to “developed” occurs…or a port-a-potty. Also, horizon elements are often placed where they are for balance.

–Note that wild Nature is nearly always visible in the scene, even if it is just a glimpse–in this area of the country it happens to be the foothills and high mountains of the Front Range of the Rockies. The 14er, Longs Peak, is sometimes seen in the background–watching, waiting, and monitoring the busy-bee, ant-like, developments on the grassy plains below. Often, remnants of the human agricultural landscape are also present…but threatened and disappearing with the passage of the bulldozers and the investors.

–Note the use of leading lines and curves. There is often a certain rhythm and rhyme, pattern, order, etc. to new construction…even a particular beauty.

–Note that humans are never present. The big machines are idle. Waiting. Resting. The new houses hold their occupants as prisoners within. Although the human presence is heavily implied, the focus is on the land.

–Note how the Earth is treated…the textures…the holes and ditches.

–Note that there are almost always clouds–usually growing storm clouds–in the sky and on the horizon…harbingers of what is to come as a result of our sense of entitlement to the Earth’s resources, our greed, our wants… And, yes, I am part of the problem, too, after all, it’s hard to escape being yet another cog whirling about within this crazy, contradictory, convoluted system we have created.

Eight images (all in the vicinity of Pike Road and Heather Hill Circle, Longmont, Colorado):