August 12, 2023 through September 06, 2023

Loren Nelson • Wasteland

Wasteland

Human beings aren’t very good at recycling plastic. About 5% was recovered in 2021, down from 9% in 2014. Another 12% was incinerated in waste-to-energy facilities, and the rest ended up in landfills, rivers, and oceans. When I read that plastic fibers were found at the 27,000-foot level on Mount Everest, I imagined the view when climate change has melted the glaciers and mountain snowpack, leaving a thin layer of plastic.

These glowing, plastic-draped landscapes suggest snow-capped mountain ranges, but are actually erosion control measures. They show how plastic surrounds us, literally, and will threaten life on earth for generations.

Side note: The Rhône Glacier in the Swiss Alps has been covered with massive blankets during the warmer months for several years, which has reduced glacial melting by as much as 50%. Another example of art imitating life! 
 
These photographs were made with a Nikon D700 digital camera and an iPhone 8+, processed in Photoshop, and printed on Moab Juniper Fine-Art paper using archival pigment inks.

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For over 45 years Loren Nelson has photographed with a Deardorff 4X5 view camera and film, and used a traditional darkroom to produce selenium-toned silver gelatin prints. Recently, he has also incorporated a digital workflow, using 35mm digital cameras and an iPhone to respond more spontaneously to his surroundings. Along with his darkroom work, he prints his images on fine-art papers, using archival pigment inks. Ongoing bodies of work include Pacific Northwest landscapes, seascapes, driftwood studies, botanicals, and Under Wraps, a series on plastic-wrapped buildings and landscapes.

Loren Nelson’s photographs are in numerous public and private collections, including the Portland Art Museum; the Hallie Ford Museum of Art; Salem, Oregon; and the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts; Tampa, FL. He is represented by the Portland Art Museum/Rental Sales Gallery in Portland, OR, and LightBox Photographic Gallery in Astoria, OR. His work has been published in View Camera, LensWork, B&W, Shots, and Analog Forever Magazines.

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