Artist's Statement

Jason Poole

Our long held illusions of dominion over and separation from the natural world have led us to build the artificial constructs of our global civilization. Now as these man-made systems of exploitation begin to unravel, we find ourselves unable to contend with the consequences of the anthropocene. We are angry and powerless. We can no longer believe in our future. Confined within the web of our digital hubris we double down on the unreality of technology. We cannot think straight, constantly distracting ourselves from the inner fear that progress is in retreat. Distraction, it seems, is all we have to hold onto.

Yet there are other ways to exist in the world. Photography has become my instrument of liberation. The method I use to enter the landscape. To stop and pay attention. I find we can surrender our conceits and fears, to allow a wildness within to expand. So we may see an underlying wisdom in the elements at play. The world itself becomes alive and multifaceted - communicating with itself. Fleetingly we understand this unspoken conversation, we reintegrate with the earth. My images are an attempt to convey these essential connections hidden in plain sight, they are reminders of our elusive bonds to this earth.

We have all experienced the state of conscious awareness I describe, and if there is a solution to our species predicament, I believe this is the space in which it will be found. As Einstein explained – "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Time spent in wilderness often becomes a transformative experience, empowering people with a personal duty to protect the environment. A fundamental change in our collective relationship with the earth may happen if enough of us are able to reconnect with it, with home, through personal relationships and direct experience.

12" x 18" Platinum Palladium prints.