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April 20, 2011
Phil Underdown explores the relationship between environmentalism and photography around the collision and interconnection between the land, industry and culture.
I was attracted to the image below after having returned from Tasmania where the clearfelling of old growth native forests for woodchips is still in full swing. This depicts one form of the interaction of humans and the natural world.
Phil Underdown, Oregon Clearcut, from Proud New Future series, 1993
In this interview with Antone Dolezal for finitefoto---a new media collective that investigates and promotes the intersection of photography and culture in the state of New Mexico---Underwood says that:
with the changes being brought about in our environment as the result of climate change and our ever-expanding footprint, there is such a huge roll photography, and visual art in general, can play in helping to interpret and make visible these changes. Not just documenting what is disappearing, but also helping us to see where we are now and where we are headed.
It's an excellent point.
Underdown says that his work has been informed by the:
work of the New Topographics and Dusseldorf School photographers has always been very influential. Some more specific examples—John Gossage’s, The Pond. Jem Southam’s Upton Pyne series, Frank Gohlke and his Sudbury River work, Gilbert Fastenaekens’ Noces, all interest me for their sustained, intense attention to a small personal landscape. Some other photographers and books—Simone Nieweg’s Landschaften und Gartenstuke, Mark Power’s 26 Different Endings, Gerhard Richter’s Wald, anything by Olaf Otto Becker…
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Thankyou for sharing Phil Underdown's beautiful photography Gary.