Gosto bastante do trabalho soturno e sombrio de Michael Vahrenwald, nos antípodas da luminosa fotografia de paisagem. Aqui temos fotografia de paisagem vista através de um ponto de vista contemporâneo e bastante actual, é uma fotografia que coloca várias questões sobre o papel da paisagem urbana e construída e que documenta (de uma forma magistral) as interrogações de Michael Vahrenwald.
O projecto ‘universal default‘ é um dos meus favoritos.
The photographs in the series Universal Default are taken in the empty, outer lying spaces of newly constructed “big box” stores across the United States. Lit by the ambient glow of modern parking lot lights, the borders that separate the empty spaces of agriculture from suburban commercial architecture are illuminated. The camera records an enigmatic and tragic reality that appears fictitious. These highly detailed photographs are taken with 4×5 and 5×7 view cameras. I do not create these landscapes I document them. My process is a faithful one, recording only what can be seen, there is no digital manipulation involved in these works. The landscapes are a universal phenomenon economically tied to a culture of retail that relies upon new development. My subject is a byproduct of economics, a leftover landscape. My work is strongly indebted by generations of artists before me, especially the American photographers of the 1960’s and 70’s whom responded to a need to re-examine the American landscape in a time of political, economic and cultural crisis. The work is not an all-encompassing narrative of “America” but rather a visual or archeological exploration grounded by a conceptual structure.
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