Winner of Best Airscape, Terra Firma Exhibition, Studio B, Boyertown PA, May 2009
I created this piece recently as part of my satellite image body of work. This is my interpretation of Green Lane Reservoir and the surrounding areas from 9000 ft. above the earth. Mostly rural, this piece is very different from the satellite image of Reading. Instead of urban areas, in this piece mainly fields and forested land surround this particular water source. However, the impact of our bustling modern human lifestyle on the landscape is clearly evident in the enormous road systems that intersect and run all through, on top of really, the otherwise beautiful, primarily agricultural and wooded area.
This is the area where I live and so I am close to this particular satellite image. When I go to Green Lane Park I can still hear the traffic of the highways that flank the park on all sides. It strikes me, and hard, that there is little area near where I live to escape the madness of commerce, the rush of contemporary life. Many of the surrounding farmers are selling their land because they cannot make ends meet growing food. Farming, a profession that has sustained humans since the beginning of time, is becoming obsolete. The loss of family farms holds a huge impact for humans, as well as the landscape and surrounding natural areas not only in this area, but all over the country.
In Reservoir, 9000 ft. I have captured a moment leading into a different age. We may not recognize this landscape in 10 years. Perhaps in 10 years most of the farmland and forested land you see here will be housing developments and quarries.
