Human Nature

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Houston Center for Photography

April 3-May 14, 2009

HCP (Houston Center for Photography)  presents the exhibition Human Nature, on view April 3 - May 11, 2009.  Featuring photographs by Benjamin Drummond & Sara Joy Steele, Lucas Foglia, Pablo Lopez, Travis Roozee, Jay Tyrrell, Robert Voit, and with HCP´s Collaborations VI Program.

Human Nature is extended through May 14.

Human Nature raises questions about the current state of our relationship to the natural environment — are we living for success, or excess? What kinds stewardship methodologies are being practiced? How are we managing other species´ relationships with Earth? What types of energy are we using? What does population growth/urban sprawl look like on the landscape? What activities are taking place on a local level to support local farmers and growers and promote community?

Documenting semi-nomadic reindeer herders in Norway photojournalists Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele explore the lives of people around the world as they confront and adapt to the complex issues surrounding climate change.

Lucas Foglia reveals the process of "Rewilding" - the creation of a lifestyle that is independent of the domestication of civilization. Foglia´s images are of individuals who had left mainstream society to adopt wilderness or homesteading lifestyles, often in response to environmental concerns and predictions of societal collapse.

Aerial photographs by Mexico City-based photographer Pablo Lopez depict grids of communities networked together via transportation arteries. On the outskirts of Mexico City exists evidence of a "garden city" — a series of residential and industrial communities surrounded by greenbelts of agricultural land.

Jay Tyrrell´s poetic images of wind farms across the United States abstract the functionality of the machinery. These modern versions of ancient power sources tower above the natural land by over 400 feet. The United States is second to Germany in its capacity to harness the wind; Texas is home to largest number of wind farms in the country.

Dusseldorf School-trained photographer Robert Voit created a pictorial inventory of mobile phone masts worldwide which simulate nature. These camouflage structures appear in the landscape as idealized forms of vegetation, including deciduous trees, conifers, pines, palms and cacti.

In the Learning Center, HCP´s Collaborations Program with area high schools will exhibit work on the subject of food. Topics covered include cultural eating habits, the processing and packaging of food, food distribution/food miles, local farmers and markets, butchers, the Blue Heron Goat Farm (Waller, TX), and Home Sweet Farm (Brenham, TX).

Pictured:  Lucas Foglia, detail Squirrel Loincloth, 2007, North Carolina.