The ecological degradation unleashed by the industrial revolution is increasingly leading concerned photographers to bear witness to the profound transformation of our world. While natural calamities wreak havoc upon the environment, this exhibition, its catalogue, and the related Web site underscore human-induced threats and damages.
Intended to reaffirm the urgency of a global response, Imaging a Shattering Earth: Contemporary Photography and the Environmental Debate features fifty-six provocative testimonies by Edward Burtynsky, John Ganis, Peter Goin, Emmet Gowin, David T. Hanson, Jonathan Long, David Maisel, David McMillan, Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, John Pfahl, and Mark Ruwedel. The catalogue includes three essays by noted environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Exhibition Curator Claude Baillargeon, and Maia-Mari Sutnik, Associate Curator of Photography at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
The catalogue is co-published by the Meadow Brook Art Gallery, College of Arts and Sciences, Oakland University, and CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival. The exhibition will be presented in partnership with MOCCA in Toronto as part of CONTACT 2006.