"Pitch Pine and Gray Birch
in the Dwarf Pine Ridges, Sam's Point Dwarf Pine Ridge Reserve,
Ellenville, New York, 1999," Annie Leibovitz, gelatin silver
print. Copyright Annie Leibovitz.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. - Beginning May 11 and continuing through
August 3, photographs exploring the natural world by
internationally renowned photographers will be on view at the IMA
to celebrate The Nature Conservancy's 50th anniversary.
": Photographs from The Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places"
features 130 works that explore lands protected by the
Conservancy throughout the United States and around the world.
Twelve photographers of established reputation were invited to
select places the Conservancy helps protect and record their
responses to those places on film. The exhibition's range of
styles, from landscape photography to portraiture and
photojournalism, illustrates the rich and complex splendor of
these places, as well as the diversity of artists represented.
The featured artists include those who are famous for their
landscape photographs, such as Terry Evans and Richard Misrach,
those who have achieved wide followings for their portraiture,
such as Annie Leibovitz and William Wegman, and those who are
best known for their work on the cutting edge of the art world,
such as Sally Mann and Lee Friedlander.
The artists chose sites ranging in character from the red-rock
plateaus of Utah and the forests of New York to the coral reefs
of Indonesia. Some focused on plant and animal life and others on
the people who live in and around these areas. Some made one trip
and others chose to revisit the selected site over several
seasons. Yet all of the participants produced images that express
passionate feelings about the natural world.
William Christenberry and Friedlander, for example, focused on
the landscape. At Alabama's Bibb County Glades and Cahaba River,
Christenberry found himself photographing the first pure
landscapes of his career. Friedlander's work along the San Pedro
River in Arizona explores the diversity of plants growing in the
vicinity of the river. Each of their interpretations unveils the
hidden beauty of these biologically important places and
demonstrates the importance of the Conservancy's goal of
preserving ecologically functioning landscapes.
Mary Ellen Mark and Fazal Sheikh, on the other hand, concentrated
on portraiture. Mark's images from two isolated coastal
settlements on opposite ends of the United States, and Sheikh's
portraits of the faces and hands of landless people living in and
near a national park in Brazil, are reminders of the human face
of conservation. In so doing, the photographs suggest that the
beauty of nature and the reality of human presence are not
necessarily antithetical, and therein reflect the Conservancy's
collaborative and participatory approach to conservation.
This exhibition is presented at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in
memory of Daniel Efroymson, a great friend of the IMA and The
Nature Conservancy.
Accompanying the exhibition is a 160-page, fully illustrated book
featuring essays and statements by the artists. The hardcover
book retails for $60 and paperback for $35.
Admission is free. Admission to Lilly House, the restored
Oldfields estate mansion, is $5. For information, 317-920-2660 or
www.ima-art.org.
