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2/4/2009

Human Nature

Houston Center for Photography, Houston

Photographs by Benjamin Drummond & Sara Joy Steele, Lucas Foglia, Mary Daniel Hobson, Pablo Lopez, Paula McCartney, Travis Roozee, Jay Tyrrell, Lou Vest, Robert Voit, and with HCP´s Collaborations VI Program.

Human Nature raises questions about the current state of our relationship to the natural environment — are we living for success, or excess? What kinds of stewardship methodologies are being practiced? How are we managing other species´ relationships with Earth? What types of energy are we using? What does population growth/urban sprawl look like on the landscape? What activities are taking place on a local level to support local farmers and growers and promote community?

Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele´s Facing Climate Change tells the story of global change through local people. Their images document semi-nomadic reindeer herders in Norway as they confront and adapt to the complex issues surrounding global warming.

Lucas Foglia reveals the process of "Rewilding" - the creation of a lifestyle that is independent of the domestication of civilization. Foglia´s images are of individuals who had left mainstream society to adopt wilderness or homesteading lifestyles, often in response to environmental concerns and predictions of societal collapse.

In her series Bottle Dreams, Mary Daniel Hobson takes images of the natural world and stores them. Contained and memory-like in glass bottles, the photographs are vignettes from Ms. Hobson´s past.

Aerial photographs by Mexico City-based photographer Pablo Lopez depict grids of communities networked together via transportation arteries. On the outskirts of Mexico City exists evidence of a "garden city" — a series of residential and industrial communities surrounded by greenbelts of agricultural land.

Paula McCartney´s photographs of craft store songbirds set in trees are at once delicate and humorous. Frustrated by ever-fleeting birds and determined to capture an ideal representation of nature, McCartney is creating her own version of the natural world.

Larry Schwarm´s photographs of the mesmerizing prairie fires that sweep across the grasslands of Kansas each spring push the limits of documentary veracity. These fires are humanly set to manage the land.

Jay Tyrrell´s poetic images of wind farms across the United States abstract the functionality of the machinery. These modern versions of ancient power sources tower above the natural land by over 400 feet. The United States is second to Germany in its capacity to harness the wind; Texas is home to largest number of wind farms in the country.

Lou Vest is one of 90 pilots currently working in the Houston Ship Channel. These pilots take over the steering of vessels from the captains outside of Galveston and "pilot" the ships through 52 miles of the channel to their respective destinations. Made often from theses ships, Mr. Vest´s photographs document not only the quantity of commerce in the United States´ busiest port, but the petrochemical and fuel refining industries that create a landscape not often seen by most Houstonians.

Dusseldorf School-trained photographer Robert Voit created a pictorial inventory of mobile phone masts worldwide which simulate nature. These camouflage structures appear in the landscape as idealized forms of vegetation, including deciduous trees, conifers, pines, palms and cacti.

In the Learning Center, HCP´s Collaborations Program with area high schools will exhibit work on the subject of food. Topics covered include cultural eating habits, the processing and packaging of food, food distribution/food miles, local farmers and markets, butchers, the Blue Heron Goat Farm (Waller, TX), and Home Sweet Farm (Brenham, TX).

This exhibition is made possible in part from support by Southern Union Company, Baylee and Kal, James Edward Maloney, Joan Morgenstern, Anonymous, and Thomas and Debrah Yale.
Special thanks to our collaborators: Houston Tomorrow, Slow Food Houston, Trees for Houston, Urban Harvest, Loaves and Fishes, and photographer Linda Walsh

Image by Lucas Foglia

Opening reception Friday, April 3, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Houston Center for Photography
1441 W. Alabama St. Houston

stampa

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