Wait ’til You See the Devil’s Punchbowl (2014-2016)
Shot with the 4 x 5 camera, historically used to document landscapes, this series of photographs was taken in the Louisiana Bayous where oil and gas mining has caused contamination and land erosion. The 4 x 5 produces images that are sharper than the naked eye is capable of seeing and gives the illusion of completion and utmost clarity. The film is loaded in the camera backward so that the only light that records on film is the red spectrum. This is symbolic of the changing landscape, the pollution underneath the surface, the eroding land’s edge, and sinking islands. In addition, lumen prints were made by placing photographic paper directly in the water, creating impressions of plant-life that grows out of defunct oil platforms and oil pipelines throughout the bayou. The results are radiant hues of fuchsias, blues, mauves, yellows and pink, which are a chemical reaction between long exposures to UV light, the silver in the paper and whatever contaminants and plant matter are on top.
Installation
Lumen Prints
4×5 Prints
