Alpenglow Collages
2016
photographs on bamboo paper, cut and layered
8.5 x 11 inches each 

The alpenglow visual phenomenon looks like a distinctly shaped, warm glow near the horizon, occurring around dawn and dusk.  It is most easily identified on mountains, but it is also visible on buildings and clouds.  I first witnessed alpenglow on Montserrat during my time at Can Serrat Artist Residency in El Bruc, Catalunya.  I was captivated by the phenomenon and after the residency I began looking for every piece of information I could find on the subject.  I found hundreds of slightly different photographs by hundreds of different photographers of the same few mountains.  I think of this phenomenon as "destination image-making," where people seem to visit locations specifically to make a photograph that has been made hundreds of times, with slight differences due to time of day, season, height of photographer, camera angle, etc.  I collected these photographs, erased everything except the mountain and light shapes, printed the images, and meticulously cut out the alpenglow forms.  As these cut photographs stacked up on my desk, I noticed layered landscapes building up and dissolving.  Through this process I developed 98 collages - a select few are pictured here. When the collages are viewed sequentially, a geologic and atmospheric narrative evolves.  The collages have been exhibited and collected individually, but I envision this series complete as a book with all 98 collages.