“Unearthed”, photo exhibition by Alex MacLean, Photograph Gallery, Château
He endeavours to shed light on what we can't, or refuse, to see, “what we look at without understanding, and especially
the ties that govern the spaces between the natural and constructed environments”. His pictures reveal “the effects of
time, geological movements, shifting landscapes, urban sprawl, redeployment and the overlapping of surfaces and
activities”. Paradoxically breathtaking in their beauty, his photos condemn examples of irresponsible land abuse by human industry: open-air quarries or oil fields, the reckless excessiveness of which the photographer brings sharply to the fore in his aerial shots.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTESAlex MACLEAN
Alex MacLean lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and works in Cambridge in the USA. His work has been exhibited in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia and is found in public, private and university collections. He has won numerous awards, including the American Academy of Rome’s Prix de Rome in Landscape Architecture for 2003-2004, and grants from foundations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and Graham Foundation. He wrote seven books between 1993 and 2007: Visualizing Density, The Playbook, Designs on the Land: exploring America from the Air, Taking Measures Across the American Landscape, Aerial Reflections of America, Above and Beyond and Visualizing Change in Small Towns and Rural Areas. As a pilot and photographer, Alex MacLean keeps up the great tradition of aerial photography, but more with the aim of depicting the history and evolution of the land he captures than of showcasing a stunning landscape. He shines the spotlight on movements, the shifting landscapes, the effects of time and urban developments which reshape expanses, borders and the spaces in between. His most recent book “Chroniques aériennes: l’Art d’Alex MacLean” (October 2010) brings together a selection of the best photographs annotated by his own comments.
BIOGRAPHY
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