They wished to flower,

and flowering is being beautiful:

but we wish to ripen,

and that means being dark and taking pains.

—Rainer Maria Rilke

In Natural History, plant forms integrate with portraits of women in the ripenes of their years. We created these images to represent maturity as a web of potent physical and psychological connection.

We photographed these women in the attitudes of Roman portraits. After the application of a historical chemical solution, the images are overlaid with plants from our garden and exposed to the sun. Women and flowers merge in cyanotype impressions which overtake individual identity and speak of cosmic natural histories.

The power of birth, death and regeneration pulse beneath the ephemeral beauty of the shadows of plants. Sun and season inscribe the passage of time.

Processed Views interprets the frontier of industrial food production: the seductive and alarming intersection of nature and technology. As we move further away from the sources of our food, we head into uncharted territory replete with unintended consequences for the environment and for our health.

In our commentary on the landscape of processed foods, we reference the work of photographer, Carleton Watkins (1829-1916). His sublime views framed the American West as a land of endless possibilities and significantly influenced the creation of the first national parks. However, many of Watkins' photographs were commissioned by the corporate interests of the day; the railroad, mining, lumber and milling companies. His commissions served as both documentation of and advertisement for the American West. Watkins' images upheld the popular 19th century notion of Manifest Destiny – America's bountiful land, inevitably and justifiably utilized by its citizens.

We built these views to examine consumption, progress and the changing landscape.