9/19/2007

Tribute to Development


This is a tribute to my friend Andrew Bain. He grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia. His family lived there for like 500 years. They have watched the landscape change over generations, literally. Andrew Bain takes fine art photography on the waves edge of mass-development that is swarming agriculture and wildlife with apartment buildings and strip malls. It's happening all over America. I'm noticing it more than ever here in Augusta, Maine. But I remember proof-reading an article in the Kennebec Journal that said Maine has a pioneer plan it is testing to lessen the detrimental effects of development.
An early photo that points at this issue in a slightly different way is Stieglitz "The Steerage." Because the line between development and wildlife/agriculture is somewhat of a class issue.
To see other photos that try to draw attention to land development check out Kim Kirkpatrick's photos. He was an instructor to Andrew Bain at the Corcoran College of Art. I also took a color photo class with Kim Kirkpatrick.