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• Copper Mine, Butte, Montana. Photographs © John Ganis
The hand of Man
Almost 20 years of travelling throughout the US lie behind this large format colour indictment of the ongoing process of ‘civilizing’ the country. The stance of John Ganis – currently Professor and Photography Department Chair at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit – on his subject can be summarised in his own words: ‘The American approach towards the land is often characterized by mindless development and exploitation of both public and private land for corporate profit. We are now aggressively exporting this consumerist attitude to the rest of the world’. The USA is a big country with big ideas and great plans, and plenty of room to make them happen. The message conveyed by Ganis’ photographs is that this is the problem. Splendid wide vistas of otherwise pristine natural beauty have something unpleasant going on in the corner, at the front, or all over... From the northwest extreme of Alaska to the southern States, and over to the east, the march of ‘progress’ is leaving its stain – often a massive muddy blot – on the land.
Consuming the American Landscape, by John Ganis, published by Dewi Lewis Publishing, £30.00, ISBN 1 904587 00 3.
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