Artist Statement, April 2009

Dennis DeHart
Artist Statement
April 2009

My fine art photographs and interdisciplinary projects are compelled by the connections, conflicts, and intersections of the natural and cultural worlds. I am interested in how our perceptions of nature are constructed by culture, and culture by nature.

During this past year (2008-2009) I have been making pictures in my home state of Washington. The images were photographed specifically in the northwest corner of of the state. This includes north of Seattle, up through the San Juan Islands and east to the North Cascades.

In terms of text, I am employing GPS mapping coordinates, which I have authorized based on memory, as opposed to technology. All the photographs are recorded and subjectively plotted on © Google Earth.

Conceptually, I am investigating landscapes through a combination of constructed and non-constructed photographs. In many instances, a kind of trauma is or has occurred in these images. The photos bear witness to this trauma while equally embracing the sublimity of seeing.

The photographs take the form of large-scale panoramas. Stylistically, I am sampling historical genres including 19th century travel and landscapes photography and prints. This includes research at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY studying prints by Carleton Watkins, among others. My photographs also draw from conventions of directional and staged photography.