Local Photography goes green

When you hear that something has gone green, you most likely associate it with a safer alternative to the environment. Digital photography, unlike traditional photography with its harmful chemicals, is a good choice for photographers concerned with the environment. So professional and amateur photographers alike can feel confident they are demonstrating the beauty of the environment around them.

The environment has been a subject for photographers for decades. One of the first to become famous and successful at this was Ansel Adams. In the 1930s Adams became an active member of the Sierra Club, promoting and encouraging the conservation and beauty of Yosemite National Park with his broad and inviting images of the landscapes of the west. What Ansel Adams was able to accomplish with his work and dedication to the environmental movement, can still be seen today as photographers relay the beauty and importance of the landscapes around them.

Right here in Akron, Ohio we have many opportunities to take photo treks into nature’s beauty. Summit Metro Parks encompasses 6,900 acres of land for residents to enjoy and we're also lucky to have the 33,000 acres of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park as our neighbor. One local photographer Trish DePamphilis has taken to green photographs from our local parks for her subjects. DePamphilis's photos on various travels have demonstrated some of the same grand landscape compositions as can be seen in Adam's photos. However focusing on the microcosms of the parks around the Cuyahoga River, she's shifted the viewer’s eye from the grand landscape to the beauty in the color of green.

Viewing her photos I am amazed at the variations of the color green and textures in patches of moss. Now besides admiring the scenes of winding creeks and colorful blossoms, I am drawn to the green textural carpet that is lying at my feet. While enjoying a walk in the park I may not have thought to focus on the growth on a fallen tree, but that is the power of environmental photography, showing the viewer a perspective they may have neglected to appreciate.

* Photo from the series Moss Love Affair by Trish DePamphilis

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