Continuing through June 26, 2010
In "Reconstructing the View," the latest exhibit from their ongoing Grand Canyon project that began in 2007,photographers Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe continue to create unique ways to integrate historic images of this natural wonder with modern photographs incorporating views from the original depictions to explore themes of environmental awareness. Combining Klett's established practice of re-photography with Wolfe's command of technology, contemporary images from three seasons of field work are matched to digital versions of historic photographs and drawings, creating sweeping panoramas and large-scale photographs that modernize and enliven views depicted by earlier artists.
Observations of humankind's relationship with the national park are apparent throughout. In "People on the Edge," Klett and Wolfe align the horizons of historical Grand Canyon photos, each containing onlookers, to create an entirely new panoramic landscape. In "A map of flight for California Condors #4 and #99 above Yavapai Point," dotted lines follow photographs of the endangered birds soaring outside a vintage postcard and onto a stark, white background - a few photographic pieces of their changed environment serving as aids in a hopeful resurgence. Through these new views of the Grand Canyon, Klett and Wolfe continue to document its change and the role we play in its preservation or undoing.
