For my passion project, I decided to create a slideshow/photo essay of pictures taken on a drive across the country, from coast to coast. I decided to do this for a project because I enjoy photography, especially nature and landscape photography. I also really enjoy travelling and seeing new places, which I obviously had the opportunity to do in the making of my project. My purpose for this project was to showcase some beautiful landscapes that can be encountered between the East and West coasts and hopefully to to tell some stories along the way. In addition, I tried to experiment with the art of photography and create some visually interesting images.
During the trip, I took more than 1000 pictures and I made it my goal to narrow them down to less than fifty. In this process I chose every image for a specific reason, trying to tell a story or highlight an issue in our society.
One example of this are the pictures of the oil well with the pumpjack or the picture of the coal train, both taken in Western Nebraska. These images are meant to show how much the United States and much of the world still depends on fossil fuels, which is the cause of global warming and a lot of pollution. However, it is also important to show how many people, especially in rural, less wealthy areas such as the one were the image was taken, depend on the fossil fuels and their industry for jobs.
Another image meant to inspire thought about issues facing the U.S. is the one of footprints in the sand at Arches National Park in Utah. The United States has a staggering 58 national parks, which were created to preserve nature and give the American people recreational access to these incredible landscapes. However, in serving the second purpose, National Parks have often forgotten the first. North America’s national parks are being overrun by millions of tourists each year, the most crowded being visited by more than ten million annually. The overcrowding has increased even more recently, as more and more foreign tourists are coming to U.S. parks. This overcrowding has began to become apparent in many National Parks, with trails being completely overrun or ignored, destroying fragile landscapes and frustrating visitors looking to escape from civilization. America's national parks are in danger, as they are beginning to fail both of the reasons for their creation, protecting the wilderness and allowing people to access and enjoy it.
I chose the picture of the Colorado cannabis dispensary with the totem pole and the teepee on top, because it draws attention to the appropriation and misappropriation of Native American culture in Western society. The use of Native American symbols as mascots for sports teams, names for attack helicopters, and in this case to sell weed is extremely disrespectful and ignorant. While I do not know who owns the dispensary in the image, and it could be operated by people of indigenous ancestry, I highly doubt this. The idea of using another culture’s (besides Native Americans) stereotypes to use as a logo or for advertising is unthinkable to most people in an increasingly politically correct world. The continued use of native american symbols isn’t just ignorant, it is dehumanizing.
I made sure to include the picture of Carhenge, the stonehenge replica outside of the small town of Alliance, Nebraska, because it says a lot about the nature of that state and much of the rural midwest. Carhenge, literally just a bunch of old cars stacked on top of each other in the middle of nowhere, seemed to be the most exciting thing all of Western Nebraska had to offer, being advertised on signs hundreds of miles away. It also makes one think of how bored one has to be to create such an artwork.
During the trip, I took more than 1000 pictures and I made it my goal to narrow them down to less than fifty. In this process I chose every image for a specific reason, trying to tell a story or highlight an issue in our society.
One example of this are the pictures of the oil well with the pumpjack or the picture of the coal train, both taken in Western Nebraska. These images are meant to show how much the United States and much of the world still depends on fossil fuels, which is the cause of global warming and a lot of pollution. However, it is also important to show how many people, especially in rural, less wealthy areas such as the one were the image was taken, depend on the fossil fuels and their industry for jobs.
Another image meant to inspire thought about issues facing the U.S. is the one of footprints in the sand at Arches National Park in Utah. The United States has a staggering 58 national parks, which were created to preserve nature and give the American people recreational access to these incredible landscapes. However, in serving the second purpose, National Parks have often forgotten the first. North America’s national parks are being overrun by millions of tourists each year, the most crowded being visited by more than ten million annually. The overcrowding has increased even more recently, as more and more foreign tourists are coming to U.S. parks. This overcrowding has began to become apparent in many National Parks, with trails being completely overrun or ignored, destroying fragile landscapes and frustrating visitors looking to escape from civilization. America's national parks are in danger, as they are beginning to fail both of the reasons for their creation, protecting the wilderness and allowing people to access and enjoy it.
I chose the picture of the Colorado cannabis dispensary with the totem pole and the teepee on top, because it draws attention to the appropriation and misappropriation of Native American culture in Western society. The use of Native American symbols as mascots for sports teams, names for attack helicopters, and in this case to sell weed is extremely disrespectful and ignorant. While I do not know who owns the dispensary in the image, and it could be operated by people of indigenous ancestry, I highly doubt this. The idea of using another culture’s (besides Native Americans) stereotypes to use as a logo or for advertising is unthinkable to most people in an increasingly politically correct world. The continued use of native american symbols isn’t just ignorant, it is dehumanizing.
I made sure to include the picture of Carhenge, the stonehenge replica outside of the small town of Alliance, Nebraska, because it says a lot about the nature of that state and much of the rural midwest. Carhenge, literally just a bunch of old cars stacked on top of each other in the middle of nowhere, seemed to be the most exciting thing all of Western Nebraska had to offer, being advertised on signs hundreds of miles away. It also makes one think of how bored one has to be to create such an artwork.