Artist's Statement

Barbara Boissevain

Photographer Barbara Boissevain, recontextualizes urban and natural landscapes into abstract photographs. A Silicon Valley native, she uses photography to highlight environmental issues in the region. Her South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project documents the epic transformation of salt ponds back to their natural state, which will take up to 60 years to complete. Boissevain uses a vivid, yet abstract visual language to cultivate awareness and provoke meaningful discourse about environmental stewardship. In her latest work, she creates formal grids of the salt pond images based on the year they were photographed and a common color palette. As the dramatic changes in the Bay continue, she will add to this series and create more grids documenting the increasing biodiversity over the coming decades.

This series is from a larger body of work titled "Big Dirty Secrets," in which she highlights environmental issues relevant to residents of Silicon Valley. The San Francisco Bay Area leads the nation in environmental awareness, yet it is among the most polluted regions in the country. Currently, there are four chapters in the "Big Dirty Secrets" series: "Ghost Hangar" 2013; "Cupertino Cement Factory" 2012;"The Oracle’s of Richmond Oil Barrel Installation" 2015 and "Salt Pond Restoration" 2010-2018. This is an ongoing series to which she will be adding new chapters on a continuing basis.