About this Project

One of the most fascinating aspects of the human mind is the process of memory formation. When scrutinized by the scientific method or put in the context of a judicial court, human memory is known to be faulty and unreliable. Yet we cling to our memories as facts. We are certain that events happened as we remember them no matter how distorted our memories become over time.

One type of memory distortion is due to nostalgia. As time takes us further from the places and events of our past, our memories can become exaggerated. Emotions are remembered more intensely and events are recalled more dramatically.

It is through a lens of nostalgia that I would like to present this project. However I will not be looking into my own past. Instead I will be portraying present-day environments as I imagine they will be remembered in the future – with all the intensity that fond memories create.

By trying to project myself into the future and interpret the present day, I will be addressing the second theme of this project: the impact of human behavior, global climate change and environmental shifts on our current landscapes. To relate the two themes and summarize this project in one sentence: How will I remember the landscapes of my life when they are no longer in existence? How will I describe an autumn in Brown County, Indiana or springtime in rural Kentucky to a younger generation that has never seen these or any similar landscapes due to environmental destruction? Will I remember them accurately? Or will they become more romantic in my memory… more colorful? More intense?

The images in this series are digital photo collages made of elements I have photographed both locally and during my travels abroad. It is through these hyper-realistic “remembered landscapes” that I encourage the viewer to examine their own connection to nature and the world around them – before there are only memories left.