Terry Evans is a photographer whose extraordinary work I discovered today while scrolling through my Instagram feed. I spotted this post made by the Catherine Edelman Gallery, who represent Evans.
At first, I thought it was just a photograph of a tree. I then noticed the white straight lines on the left-hand side of the image (this detail reminded me of the work of Myoung Ho Lee). However, when I looked closer, there was something different I couldn’t put my finger on. My interest was piqued further with the accompanying text:
It reads:
‘New work by Terry Evans, titled Bur Oak October 2020! Most of us know the American prairie through Hollywood films, where endless miles of dry grassland mingles with the occasional tree scattered about, as bales of hay roll across the horizon. But the prairie actually contains 80 species of animals, more than 300 varieties of birds and hundreds of plant species, making it making it one of America’s great ecoregions. This piece is part of Terry Evans’s series Ancient Prairies.’
On taking a closer look, I realised that it was a composite of images.
When I research Evans’ work further, I discovered that:
‘Each large-scale image from her new series, Ancient Prairies, is made up of a patchwork of individual photographs hinting at the ecological complexity that underlies the prairie landscape.’
(A Patchwork of Imagery Hints at the Hidden Complexity of the American Prairie, 2020)
Ancient Prairies Project Statement
Since 1978, all of my work is connected by an abiding interest in and love for prairie. This interest began more than forty years ago when I photographed the Fent prairie, an 80 acre virgin prairie near Salina, Kansas, where I lived. I explored Fent and other prairies for the next eight years, which introduced me to the wondrous balance of an undisturbed ecosystem, and has informed all of my work to date. In Ancient Prairies, I’m visiting prairie remnants once again. In late May, I went back to the Fent prairie to photograph its intricate botanical complexity after having photographed the effects of fracking in North Dakota and petcoke pollution in Southeast Chicago, which both showed human disregard for land and its people. I’m deeply disturbed by our seeming inability to confront the current and impending disasters of our intensive fossil fuel overuse and the climate change our lives are provoking. This work is about remembering the wisdom and beauty of intact prairies. It is about SEEING them. These prairies would not exist without human care, and Ancient Prairies serves as a tribute to the kinship between humans and nature.
(Terry Evans Photography, 2020)
While looking at Evans’ images and understanding better her ethos behind them, I felt that there was a connection in relation to my current project and practice in general. This will be investigated further.
References:
Catherine Edelman Gallery. 2020. Terry Evans. [online] Available at: <https://www.edelmangallery.com/artists/artists/a-f/terry-evans.html> [Accessed 27 October 2020].
NRDC. 2020. A Patchwork Of Imagery Hints At The Hidden Complexity Of The American Prairie. [online] Available at: <https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/patchwork-imagery-hints-hidden-complexity-american-prairie> [Accessed 27 October 2020].
Terry Evans Photography. 2020. [online] Available at: <http://www.terryevansphotography.com/> [Accessed 27 October 2020].
2020. [online] Available at: <http://www.terryevansphotography.com/project-statements/ancient-prairieshttp://www.terryevansphotography.com/> [Accessed 27 October 2020].
Jennie Meadows MA Photography 