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Illuminated Desert


Michelle Van Parys, Illuminated Desert, 2003, gelatin silver print, Gift of the Artist in honor of Terry Toedtemeier, © unknown, research required, 2011.24.2

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Details
Title

Illuminated Desert

Artist

Michelle Van Parys (American, born 1957)

Date

2003

Medium

gelatin silver print

Dimensions (H x W x D)

image: 11 1/4 in x 22 7/16 in; sheet: 15 1/2 in x 23 13/16 in

Inscriptions & Markings

signature: Michelle Van Parys, graphite, verso, lower right

title: Illuminated Desert 2003, graphite, verso, lower left

Collection Area

Photography

Category

Photographs

Object Type

photograph

Culture

American

Credit Line

Gift of the Artist in honor of Terry Toedtemeier

Accession Number

2011.24.2

Copyright

© unknown, research required

Terms

deserts

gelatin silver prints

landscapes

photographs

Terry Toedtemeier Memorial Gifts

Description

Michelle Van Parys became enthralled with the landscape of the Southwest in the mid-1980s and continues to photograph there today. Cognizant of the idealization of the American West in nineteenth-century images, she documents the intersection of nature and modern culture of this storied region. Like the New Topographics photographers, she considers how progress can be both harmonious with, and detrimental to, the landscape: "The frame of the camera allows me to isolate and organize elements in the landscape that reflect our complex interactions with the land, both mythical and actual. These photographs are portraits of the land constructed and altered by human presence."

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