But unlike Henner, Levick makes images that are fictionalized, collaged together from disparate sites. SlideshowDaniel Leivick, Abandoned Earthworksĭaniel Leivick is a Los Angeles-based photographer who, like Henner, uses satellite photos to create highly detailed, large-scale images. SlideshowDaniel Leivick, Oil Field and Irrigation SlideshowDaniel Leivick, Slum and Panopticon Prison SlideshowDaniel Leivick, Circles Composite These patterns are visually stunning at the same time they remind us that the apparently open visual access to the world afforded by satellite image systems is limited by vested government and corporate powers. But these patterns are not painterly abstractions inserted by the artist they are software-generated obfuscations meant to conceal military installations and other sites deemed sensitive by the Dutch government. The images in this series seem to be composed of mosaics of brightly colored polygons nestled into views of countryside landscapes. It is important to understand that each image is incredibly detailed, stitched together from hundreds of individual photos: these abstractions are composed of facts-on-the-ground, facts whose scale -and impact - is geological.įor “Dutch Landscapes,” Henner takes a subtly different approach. Here the satellite view serves to flatten space, and the results are arresting aerial typologies the various sites read like the evolving variations of an abstract painter’s work. For his series “The Fields,” Henner focuses on oil fields in the western United States, especially Texas - sites of large and critical energy infrastructure located in relatively remote places, hidden in plain sight, you might say. Mishka Henner, whose work I recently explored in this journal, deploys networked satellite systems to create images that at once document land uses and explore how the imaging systems are altering these uses. Yet certain types of images have yet to earn our distrust. It’s natural to question the veracity of photographs. Yet this neutrality is illusory: satellite imagery is constructed by systems which do not simply present but also interpret and transform the raw visual data, affecting how and what we see. Easy access to satellite imagery has indeed provided us an apparently infinite source of information about the surface of our planet. Once limited largely to weather forecasts and military operations, satellite-based photography has in recent years become an integral part of our daily lives through Google Earth and other networked mapping services. Offering what can appear an almost definitive god’s-eye view, and avoiding the subjective biases of human picture makers, machine-made satellite images might seem the ultimate example of neutral, just-the-facts visual documentation. I am thinking especially of satellite photos. Yet certain types of photography have yet to earn our distrust. In our image-saturated culture, it’s natural to feel skeptical about the veracity of photographs - we understand that an image shows nothing more than a decontextualized slice of space, a particular spot at a moment in time. SlideshowMishka Henner, Fuel Station Dronrijp, Friesland Haagsche Schoolvereeniging, Den Haag, South Holland SlideshowMishka Henner, Prins Maurits Army Barracks, Ede, Gelderland SlideshowMishka Henner, De Peel Patriot Missle Site, De Peel Air Base, Limburg SlideshowMishka Henner, Staphorst Ammunition Depot, Overijssel SlideshowMishka Henner, NATO Storage Annex, Coevorden, Drenth SlideshowMishka Henner, Cedar Point Oil and Gas Field, Harris County, Texas SlideshowMishka Henner, Natural Butte Oil Field, Ulintah County, Utah SlideshowMishka Henner, Wasson Oil and Gas Field, Texas SlideshowMishka Henner, San Andres Oil Field, Hockley County, Texas SlideshowMishka Henner, Levelland Oil Field #2, Hockley County, Texas SlideshowMishka Henner, Levelland Oil Field #1, Hockley County, Texas Satellite imagery might seem neutral, but it is constructed by systems which not only present but also transform the visual data.
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