Abstract

The veracity of the photographic image has been in question from the time of its invention through contemporary image making. While the viewer clings to information and evidence that can be garnered from the image, the photograph loses veracity in the mediation of the landscape as knowledge and understanding is gained through perception of representation rather than perception of the referent itself. This contrast between the representation and the referent is illustrated through my photographic images of the American suburban landscape. The particular formal and technical construction of the images conveys the process by which mediation erodes veracity in image making. When viewing the images, first one becomes aware of a vignette marking the edge of the image, indicating an idealized landscape with a narrative element. The limited color pallet cast in magenta and cyan references memory and the nostalgic quality of photography. The occasional insertion of the shadow of the camera in the foreground specifies the mediation of the environment. The images idealize this place, its underlying bucolic nature and its crafted landscape. This work reveals both the landscape and the image to be a construct of culture and society.