Margaret Stratton's WildFire Prophecies: A Photographic Record of Burned Forests

Margaret Stratton's ongoing photographic series, WildFire Prophecies, documents the aftermath of wildfires in the American West, transforming decades of landscape photography into a record of environmental change. Stratton, a former Forest Service firefighter, captures charred forests, scarred trees, and the eerie silence of burned landscapes, challenging romanticized imagery of the West and highlighting the realities of climate change. The project, also known as Lands in the Public Trust, has been supported by a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship. Stratton's work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Smithsonian Institution, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Berlin Film Festival. Her photographs are held in collections such as the Library of Congress and the George Eastman House. In interviews, Stratton discusses her experiences as a firefighter, the emotional impact of entering burned forests, and her hope that her images will raise awareness and inspire action on forest health and climate policy. She emphasizes the need for prescribed burning and brush control, and calls for making the American landscape a voter issue. The series includes photographs from Yosemite National Park, Big Basin Redwood State Park, and Okanogan National Forest, among others.