08/14/2015
Hi friends! This is a series I've been working on this summer, and was able to share in a show with my classmates on 8/13. Posting it here for those who couldn't make it!
A spiel on my project:
"Upon returning from a trip to New Zealand, I found Berkeley to be too noisy and too crowded. I longed for the feeling that NZ provided of peace and quiet, while being surrounded by greenery and fresh air. I desperately wanted to get away.
On a whim, I Googled 'hikes around the bay,' then tacked on a 'by public transit' at the end, and was astounded with the amount of accessible regional and state parks literally surrounding the area. I made it a mission to visit at least one every weekend, and thus my project was born.
I chose hikes I could get to by public transit (no park is more than a 2.5 hours bus/bart ride away) because I wanted to demonstrate the accessibility of these not-so-hidden gems that almost nobody knew about. I've often used lack of transportation as an excuse not to go out and explore, but I've found that I didn't mind the sometimes 2 hour transit times to these areas. I also tried to choose hikes with very different geography to demonstrate the uniqueness of California; where we can go from cities, to sea cliffs, to forests, to marshes all within a couple hours of each other.
Initially, I wanted to keep the landscapes strictly 'natural,' in that I didn't want to include any human made elements. However, the geographer in me couldn't let myself base an entire project off of the incorrect notion of a 'pristine wilderness,' and I began incorporating elements of infrastructure in some of the landscapes. After all, humans are a part of nature as well.
Ideally, you'd be able to view these photos as a large print and arranged in an 180 degree arc. However, since we're constrained to a screen here, I've arranged the album in the same order I had placed my prints. Starting from the center, we have the simplicity and serenity of China Camp. But as we branch out to both sides, one with nature incorporating infrastructure, and the other seemingly without, the images become more complex."
