Of Land and Place

by Elin Spring

Our bountiful blue planet has provided us with a stocked ocean, raw materials for industry, fertile soil for food, and forests that enable us to build dwellings. Since the earliest civilizations, we have tried— sometimes in vain— to control and dominate nature. And we have acclaimed its gifts for at least that long. As we both revere and exploit the planet, how have our interactions manifested themselves in the landscape? Jurors Karen Haas, Lane Curator of Photography at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and artist Sharon Harper probe the sometime fraught alliance between humanity and the environment in “Of Land and Place: A Juried Show” on view at the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro, Vermont through April 27th, 2025.

“Eclipse with my Father” by Molly Lamb, from the series Solace in the Stardust, courtesy of the artist, Rick Wester Fine Art, NYC and the Vermont Center for Photography.

“Untitled (Our Family’s Garden)” by Claudio Eshun, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

“Sienna, Turkey Madonna, Shutesbury, MA” by Holly Lynton, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

The diverse range of formats and unique imagery in this exhibit are brought into a cohesive dialog through the adroit installation by Joshua Farr, VCP Executive Director, who offers thematic guides. Some images are clearly reverential, such as Molly Lamb’s “Eclipse with my Father,” which meditates on the possibilities of cosmic connections. In it, luminous crescent shapes of an eclipse are projected over a harsh winter scene, creating a spiritually encompassing view of the earth and the heavens that entreats our wonder. More terrestrial awe can be found in Claudio Eshun’s “Untitled (Our Family’s Garden)” and Holly Lynton’s “Sienna Turkey Madonna, Shutesbury, MA.” Both artists convey a sense of reverence through symbolic, gestural compositions. Eshun’s emblematic positioning of family members in their lush green garden and Lynton’s Madonna-like stance and pious expression suggest profound gratitude for growing one’s own food.

“Picked Flowers in my Shadow Belly” by Lisa Kereszi, 2016, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

“Meadow Flowers II” by Mary Kocol, courtesy of the artist, Gallery NAGA, Boston and the Vermont Center for Photography.

“Beets for Steaming in Water and Lemon” by Rohina Hoffman, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

Emphasizing an appreciation for the inherent splendor of the ordinary, Lisa Kereszi’s “Picked flowers in my shadow belly,” Mary Kocol’s “Meadow Flower II,” and Rohina Hoffman’s “Beets for steaming with water and lemon” celebrate the extraordinary beauty of humble offerings from the soil.

“Unnamed Spring, Colorado Plateau, AZ” by Bremner Benedict, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

“Grafting” by Jordan DeLawder, from the series Clearing, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont.

(Feature Image) “Resurgence IV” by Charlotta Hauksdottir, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

“Berry Creek after the North Complex Fire, CA” by Kris Graves, 2020, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

Many focus on the effects of a changing climate, as in Bremner Benedict’s study of endangered and disappearing western springs in “Unnamed Spring, Colorado Plateau, AZ” where she employs muted color to underline a fading resource. In Jordan DeLawder’s “Grafting,” a figure atop a tree stump clutches a bundle of branches as he scans the searing effects of a distant deforestation. The foreground seems abundant, but will our need for raw materials outstrip the forest’s ability to replenish itself? Charlotta Hauksdottir’s fractured “Resurgence IV” expresses faith in the healing powers of a marred terrain. The catastrophic results of careening weather patterns, a hallmark of climate change, are clear in “Berry Creek after the North Complex Fire” by Kris Graves. In it, the serene, late day light evokes a sense of lost memories in the destroyed home of what must have been a violent inferno.

“Nurdles collected from Huk, Oslo, Norway” by Elizabeth Ellenwood, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

“Arborglyph, Aspen Bark” by Emily Sheffer, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

Some photographers elicit responses to mankind’s injurious actions. Elizabeth Ellenwood’s petri dish called “Nurdles, collected from Huk, Oslo, Norway” enlarges the colorful, toy-like microplastics that are polluting our oceans. Printed on delicate, translucent Japanese rice paper, the carvings of initials into an Aspen tree in Emily Sheffer’s “Arborglyph” suggest a sense of immortality, even as the tree bears its human scars. The subtle hues of warm light in Rachel Loischild’s hazy “Empty Lot with Magnolia Trees” takes on a deeper meaning upon learning that Rosewood, Florida was the sight of an underreported massacre of Black people in 1923. In it, Loischild raises the perennial question, what does trauma do to a landscape? In poignant imagery, many photographers in this exhibit ask what we can infer from the imprints of human activity in the landscape.

“Empty Lot with Magnolia Trees, Rosewood, FL” by Rachel Loischild, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.

Of Land and Place, presents a cornucopia of photographic methods, media, subjects and content. Ordinarily, such diversity can seem scattered but curators Haas and Harper, along with VCP director Farr, have produced a cerebral, provocative and visually alluring exhibit.

Detail of an installation of unique lumen prints by Heather Palecek on view at the Vermont Center for Photography. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

If you visit, do not miss Heather Palecek’s nearby installation of squished bugs and shoe prints in a grid of small lumen prints, along with Sharon Harper’s diptych video installation, “Grove Forest Community,” which shows a Japanese woodland under the stewardship of local volunteers.

For more information: https://vcphoto.org/of-land-and-place-a-juried-exhibition/