Everglades, 2001-2004

Physical description:

All prints are signed by the photographer and measure 16 x 13 inches, with images sized 12 1/2 x 10 inches. The photographs in this series were printed in 2018 on an Epson 7800 with Piezography Carbon Ink on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth 305 gsm paper.

Scope and content:

The collection consists of 25 16x13 inch black-and-white photographs taken from 2001 to 2004 by Marion Belanger, documenting the impact of human land use and demand for water on the Florida Everglades. The images show wildlife and natural landscapes as well as the presence and impacts of tourism, agriculture, migrant worker housing, construction, and the activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Army.

From the artist's statement:

"...I had seen the Everglades from the plane – a dark nothingness at night, and by day a flat, often wet, expanse of swampland, punctuated by agricultural fields and housing developments. I was curious to experience the natural landscape, of course, but I was even more interested in the determined efforts of engineers, over many years, to eliminate the swamp for sugarcane fields and development profit. To me it was the dark heart of the state. Once I went there the actual place itself was more extreme than I could have imagined – the park itself like a living museum; miles of water control canals, levees, pumps, and dams; empty spaces, acres of emptiness, vast sugarcane fields, and (mostly gated) housing developments. My working process is not to impose the preconceived, but to embrace the unexpected..."

The full artist's statement is available in the portfolio box.

Titles and dates transcribed as they appear on the print versos.

The Everglades project was supported with a 2002 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship.

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