Tom Hegen and I have one thing in common- we are both fascinated by the idea of the "Anthropocene." It is what I named my blog after, the enigmatic, possibly pseudoscience word that describes our current geological period. How has human activity morphed the Earth's crust? How fast, how positively, how negatively, how much?
Hegen's aerial photography does not answer this question. But it does provide much-needed perspective on what the Anthropocene truly is; human impact on the environment.
"Our endless hunger for the latest electronic devices that are driven by lithium-ion batteries is growing the mineral crisis," (Hegen 2021). From electric cars to smart phones, electronics are powered by lithium. The mineral is abundant in South America, specifically in Chile, where the image above was taken. The sparsely populated landscape has become overrun by metal industries. "It is paradoxical with lithium: Industrial countries in Europe, China, and North America advertise electric mobility as the green solution. On the other side, we exploit countries on the other end of the world for resources," (Hegen 2021). In this image bright yellow runoff pollutes nearby waters.
"Lignite is one of Germany's largest energy suppliers. Energy production from coal has enabled our civilization to make great economic progress, but burning fossil energy sources contributes significantly to global warming," (Hegen 2016). The industrial revolution is trademarked for its smoggy skies and wealthy lifestyles. Where is the balance, if there is any?
As Icelandic glaciers melt, the water blends across black volcanic sand. Glaciers lose about 267 gigatons of ice per year-- aka 294.3 billion tons, or 648,820,437,610,009 pounds.
To check out more of Tom Hegen's photographs, go to https://www.tomhegen.com/work
"Land" is actually a word of Germanic origin and the suffix "-scape" refers to the verb "shaping". So landscape in a sense of landscaping refers to an activity that modifies the visible features of an area by man. As a consequence of that, I started seeing landscape photography of documenting places influenced by human rather than landscape photography as showing pure, unspoiled nature," (Hegen 2022).
Kommentare