Night Landscape Photographs: Arctic Greenland

These are long-exposure night photographs from a series made in Greenland in 2021 supported by American-Scandinavian Foundation and VisitGreenland grants. Primary themes in the monumental yet ephemeral landscapes are environmental change, cultural narratives, and the fleeting beauty of transforming sites. 

The work is part of a larger ongoing project exploring sites of climate-related shifts. For the last two decades, I’ve made night landscape photographs supported by month-long grants or residencies at: extreme tides in Maine; water-related infrastructure in The Netherlands; abandoned industrial sites in Michigan; vineyards in France; coal regions in Wyoming; and numerous trips to Canada. The aim is for audiences to reflect more deeply on these critical issues.

Part of my approach includes collaborations with communities, conservationists, and environmentalists. Although my focus is on fine art photographs, I am increasingly interested in social practice, sustainability, and research, often requiring extensive interaction, such as with the Inuit in Greenland. Inspiration is drawn from Hudson River School painting and cinema. I feel it is crucially urgent to continue these and related projects before the land metamorphoses further.

Sized at 38×50”, the large scale prints from the series are usually displayed with no border, frame, or glass overlay. Although this makes the work vulnerable to damage, the goal is to emphasize direct, unimpeded close viewing, as well as to draw parallels to fragile ecosystems that are represented in the images.