CVNRA #788A-B, from the Federal Lands series

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Robert Glenn Ketchum’s Federal Lands series began as an Akron Art Museum and National Parks Service commission. In this group of photographs, the Cuyahoga Valley, then a national recreation area, served as a stand-in for nationwide federal land management challenges, stemming from environmental issues and conflicting goals of separate agencies. “I have attempted to create a new, more generic kind of photograph: an icon of the landscape, not a specific documentary description,” Ketchum wrote. This series also addressed the artist’s concerns that the most spectacular natural scenery received more attention than what he called “ordinary” landscapes. “We have become a nation of people who often travel great distances to have an intimate experience with the natural world while driving right by an equally important part of that natural world that is entirely overlooked.”

Keywords

Color
Valley
Woods
Landscapes
United States
Photography
Trees
Ohio