Tyler Green Opening Gallery Reception and Artist Talk

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Tyler W. Green (b. 1985) is an American photographer whose work concerns the relationship between humans and the natural world. His photographs depict the tension between human activity and its impact on the environment. This tension is woven throughout his work, challenging the perspective that humans are separate from nature. Working within urban environments and preserved wilderness areas his photographs examine the precarious balance of ecosystems amongst society's reliance on natural resources. Through direct intervention within the landscape, using artificial light and other materials, his photographs represent human activity and question the inherent value of wild places. Together, his works challenge the dominance of humans over nature and foster a perspective that we are connected to the health of our environment.

CARBON / ELEMENT explores the connection between human-caused global warming and increased wildfire intensity. Beginning with the industrial revolution, fossil fuel emissions have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere by over 50%, reaching a new annual high every year since 1995. This increase in carbon dioxide has warmed the planet by creating a greenhouse effect that traps heat within the atmosphere. One of the key indicators of a warming planet is drought. Over the past two decades, three quarters of New Mexico counties have experienced moderate to exceptional drought, leading to water emergencies, widespread crop and pasture losses and a devastating wildfire season that burned nearly 860 thousand acres across the state.

Photographs of areas impacted by the Hermit Peak / Calf Canyon, Cerro Pelado and Black fires of 2022 depict a charred landscape where blackened trunks stand along barren hillsides. Holes are sunken into the earth where tree roots were incinerated and the bones of animals are found blackened and brittle. Photographs of smoke from the 2023 Pass fire show darkened skies while other images show flames climbing the trunks of trees. Handprints painted on burnt trunks allude to the human influence on the increasingly destructive nature of these fires. While images of salvage logging portray the continued impact of human activity across the landscape. Together, these photographs express the destructive forces of wildfires that have become more intense in part by human-caused global warming.

The connection between human activity and growing wildfire intensity is further expressed through the photographic prints. Using the intaglio printmaking process, the photographs are printed using carbon-based ink. This ink is created from a raw pigment refined from charcoal collected from each location where the images were made. By incorporating carbon into the printed artwork, a physical connection is formed between the photograph and the subject. This connection acts as an element of continuity between the print, the fires and the warming climate which accentuates the relationship between our collective actions and the welfare of our environment.

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