The Wilderness
PROJECT
The Wilderness
An atmospheric portrait of China’s urban expansion.
Surviving a mysterious and threatening external environment is a test to all life on earth, and humanity is in large part distinguished by the manner in which it addresses the challenge. To that end, the dominion of built space has arisen, delivering an Urban Millennium and a corollary impasse for the species: after isolating itself physically and philosophically from nature, it now faces a toxifying civilizational model and spiritual alienation from its technological dependence.
Dislocation from both natural and manufactured habitats starves humanity of a framework from which to draw a unified sense of identity - a severe problem when survival depends on collaboration. As populations concentrate in centers ever more favorable to this detachment, subconscious discombobulation grows, coloring the relationship between humankind, its sprawl, and the biological landscape increasingly disjunctive. The distress is global, but among the most populous nations actualizing mass urbanization, The People’s Republic of China manifests a distinct atmosphere of this amorphous phenomenon.
In 2010, an invitation to photograph within the country was sponsored by several northeastern municipalities seeking to bolster claims of achievements in urban development, conservational efforts, and energy manufacture. The cities of Beijing, DaQing, Tangshan, Harbin, and a collection of intermediary prefectures within the Hebei and Heilongjiang provinces were curated to emphasize such accomplishments. Nonetheless, in spite of its propagandistic intent the campaign proved inadvertently candid, showcasing an unsolicited panorama of curious psycho-spatial tableaux.
In response, the imagery that emerged focused on the enveloping nuance of misalignment encountered along that journey.
The collection contains 32 photographs.
Editions 1/5, 1/10
MEDIUM Pigment Photographic Print
