For my final project, I’m seeking to
expand my thoughts on the natural environment. In my day-to-day life, I
always question the viability of our constantly shrinking native
ecosystems. Humans and our desire for further expansion has caused us to
spread across the landscape in sloppy development patterns. As the native
flora and fauna die out, the interconnectedness of these diverse ecosystems will
continue suffer. While we surround ourselves with shopping malls,
business centers, and fast food chains, we still yearn for the natural world in
our own lives.
Homeowners fill their front yards with
realistic animal lawn ornaments and plants to mimic this natural world that we
have paved over. I feel that the images that are more like up-close portraits
of the lawn ornaments get my point across in a more direct way.
For this second work in progress
critique, I have tried to take more portrait-like photos of the lawn
ornaments. As I continue shooting, I
want to explore the idea of the shrinking environment and sloppy development.
1 comment:
I'm really enjoying these images, Taylor, but I'm not sure that I'm thinking about a "shrinking environment and sloppy development". I am thinking about how we define/make/create spaces for ourselves in terms of the home/domestic space and the humorous/ironic sometimes hypocritical relationship between the natural and the man-made. I think this relates to your stated concerns, but you seem to be focusing on the personal and idiosyncratic rather than, perhaps, the more recognizable/common aspects of development such as stripmalls or cookie-cutter subdivision housing. I think your approach is more visually interesting, but I think it would be useful to really define for yourself what you hope to convey. It might be interesting to think about, for instance, what drives a homeowner (or renter) to decorate their yard with these lawn ornaments? What is the nature of this type of landscaping, and what does it say about the lack of green space that housing and commercial developments contribute to?
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