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See 40 Landscapes from The Print Swap at Black Eye Gallery

By Ellyn Kail on October 17, 2017

‘Ella as Dorothy’ © Cathy Ronalds (@cathyronalds), Victoria, Australia

‘Búðakirkja (Black church). Búðir, Iceland. November 2016.’ © Brian S. Lee (@brianslee_), Atlanta, GA

‘Dogs of Teotihuacán’ © Michelle Lorén (@fotoinfinitum), Pomona, CA

Since Feature Shoot launched The Print Swap, a worldwide project for photographers who want to share their work with one another, we’ve had repeated requests for exhibitions. This fall, The Print Swap is proud to present Ambient Landscapes at Black Eye Gallery in Sydney, Australia.

Over the last several weeks, Feature Shoot Founder Alison Zavos and Black Eye Gallery Director Tom Evangelidis have selected 40 images to be part of the exhibition. Black Eye Gallery is dedicated entirely to photography, representing emerging and established artists. Photographers who have exhibited at Black Eye Gallery include Sandro Miller, Ron Haviv, Robin Schwartz, Nick Brandt.

The English word ambient comes from the Latin ambire, the verb for “to go about.” An ambient photograph, then, is one that surrounds us from all sides, encircles us, and transports us to new surroundings. These photographers take us all over the world, to Scandinavia, Indonesia, Iceland, Japan, Sudan.

At a time when our environment, and therefore our most beloved landscapes, is under threat, Ambient Landscapes is both an ode to the past and a foray into the future. Traditional, sublime vistas are paired with uncanny and sometimes unsettling images in which human interference is clear– whether its signs are documented in the landscape itself or simply hinted at through photographic manipulation.

On one hand, there’s Chiara Zonca’s Canary Islands, Fransisca Angela’s Mount Papandayan, Johan Holmquist’s verdant Norway. On the other, Emmanuel Monzon’s Monument Valley-obscuring stop-sign, Bob Scott’s infrared Florida, Ellen Jantzen’s digitally altered New Mexico. Though tiny, the human figure makes appearances in work by Alison Schmitz and Graham White. Right now, landscape photography sits at a critical juncture. These images take us on a journey into the next steps for a genre that’s constantly in flux.

All of the images featured in Ambient Landscapes are part of The Print Swap by Feature Shoot, an ongoing initiative with rolling submissions. See the show at Black Eye Gallery starting November 2nd. Photographers of all backgrounds are welcome to submit to The Print Swap at any time by tagging their photos #theprintswap on Instagram. Selected photographers who participate in The Print Swap give a print and receive a print from another artist somewhere in the world. Visit our website and Instagram for more details.