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
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Illuminated Desert
- Artist
- 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
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."
- Exhibitions
2013 Ordinary World: American Landscape Photography and Modern Documentary Style Portland Art Museum
2019 Toughened to Wind and Sun: Women Photographing the Landscape Portland Art Museum