THIS IS CLMATE CHANGE
Curated and presented by the Southeast Museum of Photography
August 27, 2019 to October 26, 2019
Reception, including a panel talk by the photographers and
a book signing by Kirk Crippens: October 3, 2019 5:00 PM
SMPonline.org
The narrative surrounding climate change, contemporary society’s most pervasive topic, has been wildly manipulated. In the face of near unanimous backing by the scientific community, individuals, groups, and entire industries doubt or outright denounce the relationship between human-driven carbon emissions and the negative impact of carbon emissions on environments across the globe. In response to the near unanimous backing by the scientific community on the causes of global climate change, individuals, groups, governments, and entire industries have instituted real change in energy production and usage. From radical environmentalists and reactionary politicians, to grassroots activists and corporate marketing firms, the concept of climate change has been weaponized, demonized, monetized, and sensationalized; climate change has either been adopted, evaded, or manipulated to fit some agenda somewhere.
This is Climate Change, a photography exhibition curated and developed by the Southeast Museum of Photography, aims to reveal the physical effects of climate change through landscape photography with a fine art emphasis. Taking this approach, the exhibition aims to deliver the dramatic effect of climate change through subtlety, through studied and composed imagery, free of sensationalism, free of emotional or data manipulation. The exhibit aims to deliver clear examples of the irreversible deterioration of the landscape free from overt or obvious pollutants, free from vilification.
Benjamin Dimmitt:
https://www.benjamindimmit.com
For a period of years Dimmitt has photographed the landscape surrounding a freshwater spring in the wilderness of Central Florida. Over this period of years Dimmitt’s photographs have chronicled the landscape’s turn from freshwater spring to salt water marsh—a result of rising sea levels. Dimmit’s work has a feeling similar to classical paintings—poised, with sharp contrasts of tone, and dramatic emphasis on shape and line. The dying palm trees, slowly slumping over and falling are reminiscent of wounded soldiers depicted in classical works chronicling the fall of Rome. The fallen trees read more like cadavers on the battlefield, picked clean by bugs and scavengers.
Sharon Harper:
http://sharonharper.org
Sharon Harper refers to her most recent work as “geological surveys” with a focus on the aftermath. The concept implies that an event has occurred and her images document the results: the petrified wood of a fallen tree, the silt bank created after the release of a dam, new seeds sprouting in the ashes from a wildfire. Her work further investigates these events as they affect human habitats. The centuries old banyan tree uprooted by increased intensity and frequency of hurricanes, as well as the tonnage of debris left in the wake of these storms. Her aerial landscapes reveal mountainsides scarred by mudslides, and suburbs decimated either from the mud flow or the associated fires and flooding. All images ©Sharon Harper
Kirk Crippens:
http://www.kirkcrippens.com/
Crippens’ most recent project,Going South: Big Sur, was published by Schilt in the Spring of 2019. This portfolio of images was created in the days following the closure of California’s section of State Route 1 due to heavy mudslides. Crippens hiked into Big Sur–as all vehicular traffic was forbidden–and with his large format camera he began to document portions of the road and the surrouinding wilderness free of human interaction. The results of his excursion are breathtakingly beautiful imagery, a very distinct light and tone, and an almost apocalyptic sense of loneliness.
The Southeast Museum of Photography is a department of Daytona State College, providing exhibitions, workshops, lectures, film screenings, and other educational engagements on campus and throughout Central Florida. In its 40-year history the museum has developed a collection of over 5,000 photographs and objects relating to photography that support a teaching and learning mission. The museum, located on the campus of Daytona State College, is open year-round and all offerings are free and open to the public.
For more information on this or any of the museum’s offerings
Visit:SMPonline.org Email: museum1@daytonastate.eduor Call: (386) 506-3894
