ALTERED LANDSCAPES
Images in this series represent imagined landscapes, landscapes that have been altered to create a new reality. Each landscape is created through a combination of two or more photographs or photographic elements and their content can be described within the context of three different groups: visual metaphors, surreal environments and urban intrusions.
The photograph titled, Metamorphic, is an example of a visual metaphor. In that image the scale of canon balls are enlarged and then placed in a landscape setting. The aged canon balls “morph” into eroded boulders, becoming an integral part of the landscape. The images titled, Temples and Extinction are two examples of surreal environments. In both images the combination of architectural elements and the natural landscape appear plausible, but not probable. A group of images titled, Invasive Species I-III, are examples of urban intrusions. Cell phone towers disguised as palm trees, representing urban kitsch commonly seen in the Southwest, intrude natural landscape settings containing real palm trees. My goal in the Altered Landscape series is to create engaging landscapes that appear plausible yet invite the viewer to apply their own imagination and frame of reference.
Judy Miller
