natural habitat
DESCRIPTION
I was interested in producing a book that whilst not tackling climate change explicitly, would deal with the tenuous position that we have within our natural landscape and how we try to manipulate the world around us to convince ourselves that this is not the case.TRANSCRIPT
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Natural HabitatPhotographs by Max Colson
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Natural Habitat
Photographs by Max Colson
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“At leisure let us view, from day to day,As they present themselves, the spectacles
Within doors, troops of wild beasts, birds and beastsOf every nature, from all climes convened;
And, next to these, those mimic sights that apeThe absolute presence of reality,
Expressing, as in mirror, sea and land,And what earth is, and what she has to show;
I do not here allude to subtlest craft,By means refined attaining purest ends,
But imitations, fondly made in plainConfession of man’s weakness and his loves...”
from Book VII, The Prelude by William Wordsworth
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I feel that we occupy a more tenuous position in the world than we allow ourselves to believe, particularly because of facts like climate change, and yet we often manipulate our natural environment in a way that looks as if we are trying to persuade ourselves that this is not the case. Feeling safe and in control is obviously a necessary part of living a healthy ‘normal’ life, and so what I find most fascinating is that the belief that we are secure is a necessary deception that seems to to be essential to our function in the modern era. That it is necessary is because our position in the world
is actually a precarious one, particularly if we carry on consuming in the way that we are. Mainstream culture does not encourage us to debate this, save for when natural disasters occur in distant areas of the globe.
We surround ourselves with a consumer-orientated landscape that constantly reminds us of our latest advances in technology, science, and communication; advances which will make our future more comfortable and complete. In this we see another one of our modern
day conceits: one in which we continually look into the future, presuming that we will always have a place in it. That our rapid advancement, our sense of fulfilment as a species, actually challenges the foundations on which our culture is based because of its environmental effects, that it might impact our position within the ecosystem, is an existential dilemma that we do not generally deal with. Yet global warming is a fact and sea levels are rising. Our position is more vulnerable than we would like ourselves to believe. I wanted to produce a body of
photographs that whilst not tackling climate change explicitly, would deal with the fragile position that we have within our landscape and how we try to manipulate the natural world around us to convince oursleves that this is not how our life actually is.
- Max Colson, April 2012
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All words and images by Max Colson
With many thanks to Beatrice LeFanu Collins, Sarah LeFanu and Chris Collins for the tremendous help and encouragement.