Amsterdam-based photographer Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk has created a series titled The Andromeda Strain that focuses more on the notion of discovery than the place itself. The images conjure up thoughts of a space or time perhaps untouched or undiscovered by humans. I personally found some of the imagery, shapes, patterns and colors to be incredibly intriguing and thought provoking. Words from the artist about this series, via featureshoot:
After making many landscape photographs I realized the search for special places is more important than the place itself. The notion of discovery has been always intimately linked to photography. The cliche of the photographer as an explorer of unknown and rough places became a starting point to construct images. I played with the “National Geographic:-language essentially without leaving my hometown. I searched for locations that, after small interventions, can fit in an imaginary travelogue. Using low-budget special effects and lighting I staged natural phenomena and imagery. To this work made on location I added still-lives constructed in the studio. Referring to nature and scientific photography, the tabletop landscapes create confusion on the overall status of the series. I often choose material that has a perishable or unpredictable quality, like foam or spaghetti. No Photoshop is used to achieve the effects. The artificial and the real, and the different sources the image is based on, should be present simultaneously.
While I try not to make it a habit to be awake at all hours of the night, I can’t help but love the period of time between about 3 and 5am. It is a completely different world of it’s own. Anytime I find myself awake at this time, I can’t help but be a little mesmerized by scenes unfolding around me and sounds unheard of during the daylight hours. Recently, the scene above caused me to stop in my tracks around 4:30am. The grass was almost completely enveloped in an eerie haze. Several cows stood motionless, individual silouettes dotting the misty field. The grass moved slightly with the breeze, creating a surreal motion within the mist like the gentle rolling of sea waves, moving as one large body. The entire moment was silent, not even a bird chirp. It was no longer night, but not yet day and the world had only begun to wake.
Pollen is a seriously frustrating and downright offensive little thing to so many people, especially in the springtime when those who are unfortunately allergic just want to be outside without an accompanying box of tissues. This is where I thank my lucky stars that I grew up on a farm surrounded by such allergens as animals and hay. But allergies aside, the tiny grains reveal an interesting little world when viewed under a microscope. They come alive with intricate patterns, textures and strange forms.
Waterlife is a film that “tells the epic story of the Great Lakes by following the cascade of its water frm northern lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean, through the lives of some of the 35 million people who rely on the lakes for survival.“.
Check out the theatrical trailer above and visit the sleek and fluid website to explore video clips, imagery, music and some of the stories that make up the movie which is a co-production between the National Film Board of Canada and Primitive Entertainment, Inc. The movie also boasts a pretty decent soundtrack with artists like Brian Eno, Sigur Ros and Sufjan Stevens lending their names to the cause, to name a few and is narrated by Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip.
“Providing Earth with 20 percent of its surface fresh water and its third largest industrial economy, the Great Lakes are a unique and precious resource under assault by toxins, sewage, invasive species, evaporating water and profound apathy. They are also one of the planet’s great preserves of extraordinary wilderness beauty and a bounty of unique species. Filled with fascinating characters and stunning imagery, Waterlife is an epic cinematic poem about the beauty of water and the dangers of taking it for granted.”
Last weekend I went camping up in NW Washington and while climbing on top of some old World War II bunkers from Fort Hayden, I came across a big grassy field full of spit bugs. While it can be totally gross to come across a whole field of ’spit’ covered grass, looking at them closely reveals a kind of beauty in the little bubbles that make up the enclosure as it wraps around the blade.
Thursday June 11th 2009, 3:21 pm
Filed under: Nature, Parks
After spending a few days in Olympia this week, my husband and I took some time out on Monday to wander the trails at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge sits on the Nisqually River Delta in the southern part of Puget Sound and is dedicated to the protection of migratory birds. Three thousand acres of salt and freshwater marshes, grasslands, riparian, and mixed forest habitats provide resting and nesting areas for migratory waterfowl, songbirds, raptors, and wading birds.
Unfortunately, the big 5.5 mile Dike Trail that we like was closed as part of the delta restoration project. From the website:
“The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) is working to restore the Nisqually estuary, the largest estuary restoration project of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Nearly 405 ha diked for farming in the late 1800s has been managed by the Refuge as freshwater wetlands since 1974. In 2008, the Refuge and its key partners embarked upon the tidal restoration of 283 ha of estuarine habitat on the west side of the river, consistent with the recently completed Comprehensive Conservation Plan goal to restore native habitats representative of the Puget Sound lowlands.”
But we still had access to was the 1 mile Twin Barns Loop Trail. It was nice to get out, enjoy the warm sun, wander the boardwalk through the forest, see a racoon wading in the river and bald eagles flying overhead.
Lookout and seating areas along the boardwalk with interpretive wildlife signage that looks out over the wetland area…
Picnic spot in a secluded area under the trees just off the boardwalk and right on the edge of the bulldozers working away on the other side of the trees…
The visitor center sits up on stilts and is completely surrounded by a wetland and native vegetation. Lookout areas provide sweeping views out over the wetland behind the building.
Signage around the visitor center labels the native vegetation and explains the landscaping purpose of each plant like the Kinnickinick, “a good drought resistant ground cover for northwest gardens. It provides cover for shrews, voles and mice”.
The parking areas have no curbs and allow stormwater to drain into vegetated areas with tall grasses and trees.
Squirrel stealing the leftovers from a sandwhich out of the garbage can at the interpretive center and then eating it like it was the best thing he’d ever eaten in his life. He had to dig his feet into the ground and support himself with his tail because he kept leaning all the way back until he would just about fall. Then he’d right himself and do it again. I was sitting only a foot or two away and trying my best not to laugh and scare him but he didn’t really seem to care that I was there anyway.
Lately I’ve been looking at lot of aerial photography with subjects ranging from natural features to the agricultural and urban landscape patterns. The first set of photographs I’d like to share come from Massachusetts-based architect, pilot and photographer, Alex S. MacLean.
Widely known for his amazing documentation of the American landscape from his plane, MacLean has worked to portray “the history and evolution of the land from vast agricultural patterns to city grids, recording changes brought about by human intervention and natural process. His powerful images provide clues to understanding the relationship between the natural and constructed environments.”
Here are but a few striking images from his collection:
Stream Interrupts the Harvest Pattern, Cache Valley Area, Utah
University of Florida Parking Lot with Pedestrian Walkways, Gainsville, Florida
Wheat Strips Run Perpendicular to the Prevailing Wind, Conrad Area, Montana
Backyards of Housing Sub-Division, Kansas City, Missouri
Motorcycle Racing on Black Ice, Southeastern, Massachusetts
Although it’s summer now and the sun is washing everything in a lovely golden glow, there is never a bad time of the year to look at ice photography. I’ve always been fascinated by the path ice makes and especially what happens when in contact with various object. Left alone, it spreads and forms intricate networks or paths, never crossing but always connecting and creating interesting little spaces within. But when in contact with water, like the image above, little pockets form.
When ice comes in contact with other objects, the pattern changes and can take on the shape of the object while at the same time manipulating it, distorting it and playing with the natural colors and they glisten and reflect the light.
Sometimes the ice forms sculputral expressions, either falling down or standing up, building layer upon layer over time and growing into a delicate work of art.
image via 