EXHIBITION DETAILS
Urban Landscape
November 30 – January 5, 2013
Our daily life becomes so routine, so overlooked that we often go through the motions of our day without noticing a stunning reflection, a quiet game, or the scene that surrounds us. Urban Landscape is a photographer’s view of our metropolitan world, stilled and quieted, captured with a camera to preserve these fleeting moments. This exhibition at The Center for Fine Art Photography, by a community of international photographers will challenge you to observe your own daily surroundings.
Images for the Urban Landscape exhibition were selected by juror Julia Dolan. Julia currently holds the Minor White Curator of Photography title at the Portland Art Museum. Previously, Julia was the Horace W. Goldsmith Curatorial Fellow in Photography at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a Research Associate at Addison Gallery of American Art.
STATEMENT
Sweeping views. Cacophonous facades. Shadows and light. Alleyways. Reflections. Bird’s-eye views. Abstractions. Pedestrians. Nature breaking through. Just as each city of this world is unique and diverse, the more than 2,500 photographs I viewed captured a wide range of urban activities, facts, and situations. A resident of multiple cities during my lifetime, I am drawn to the bustle, the hum, the movement, the opportunities for surveillance, and the quiet.
Yes, the quiet. A surprising number of photographers noted this quality in their works, along with isolation. Seemingly incongruous with our notions of what an urban space is or should be, silence and isolation are regularly experienced by
residents and visitors alike. Cities are notoriously difficult to break into, let alone navigate or survive. The loneliness in many of these photographs is palpable. Yet it cannot drown out the vivacity of the street and the frantic movement of cars, pedestrians, trains, and even animals.
Some of the most successful photographs submitted are those that capture the fleeting moments so easily missed because of the constant visual noise that occurs in urban spaces. Cities are also wonderfully ironic places, with clashing advertisements or cultivated green spaces that seem idiosyncratic. And, like us, cities have life spans. We watch them thrive, decline, and die, making way for new urban spaces elsewhere.
The selected photographs capture the shifting cadence of urban landscapes and the essence of cities, which are at once exciting and wildly challenging. They remain one of the richest and most rewarding subjects for photographers. Look. Enjoy.
Julia Dolan
The Minor White Curator of Photography
Portland Art Museum
