Changes to my personal living space, nature’s rainbow on the lawn of the Getty, and the urban fight against graffiti on city structures are simply stories about the passage of time as documented through my photographs. Because we all have access to digital media and the medium to display it, we can create endless stories to share with the world. I have recently come across some cool projects with a similar theme.
Urban Destruction and Renewal:
Invincible Cities is an interactive website created by sociologist and photographer Camilo José Vergara. It presents “A Visual Encyclopedia of the American Ghetto.” Through this interface, we can see the same storefront as photographed in 1977, and in 2008. I would love to have something like this for some of the places I called home in my life – like the Lizard Lounge building in Chicago @ 1824 W. Augusta Blvd. Or maybe our first house at 96 Oak Drive, in New Jersey.
Humans Aging:
The photographer Nicolas Nixon, photographed his wife and her sisters each year starting in 1975. The name of the series is The Brown Sisters. The consistency of the project is inspiring – never missing a year, the women always arranged in the same order… seeing how they’ve aged year to year, is very humbling.
Nature Never Stopping
San Franciscians are fortunate to give a home to Andy Goldsworthy’s Spire in the Presidio.
“In 2006, artist Andy Goldsworthy visited the Presidio and was inspired by the history and character of the forest. He saw an opportunity to create a sculpture with the felled mature trees. Constructed in October 2008, The Spire tells the story of the forest, celebrates its history and natural rhythms, and welcomes the next generation of trees. It is a poetic reference to the forest’s past; as new young trees grow up to meet the sculpture, it will eventually disappear into the forest.”Goldsworthy works almost exclusively in and with nature. From building long stone walls, to creating an icicle sculpture, to floating a delicate chain of flowers down the river, his works are ephemeral and temporal, not made last, never made to stay the same. This is true ’sustainable’ art. There’s a very good documentary film about the artist called Rivers and Tides where you can see his art in action.
