Naomi White's 'Landscapes of Illusion and Possibilities' Examines Climate Crisis Through Historical Photography

Naomi White presents her photographic project 'Landscapes of Illusion and Possibilities' during Earth Week 2024, using conceptual lens-based techniques to visualize the climate crisis. Her mixed-media practice incorporates original and found photographs, archival pigment prints, archival glue, fire, ash, and encaustic wax. White draws inspiration from 19th-century survey photographer Timothy O'Sullivan, whose images of the American West omitted Indigenous presence, creating narratives of emptiness. She disrupts these historical photographs by reintroducing time, people, and culture into the frame. The artist references Octavia E. Butler's 'Parable of the Sower' and W.J.T. Mitchell's landscape theories throughout her work. White explores color perception evolution as a metaphor for imagining futures beyond corporate greed and authoritarianism. Based in Los Angeles, she is an abolitionist feminist artist and educator who teaches at New York Film Academy. Her work has been exhibited at art fairs including Tryst, Scope, Spectrum, Kolajfest, and Photo LA across North America and Europe. White won the 2024 Associate's Award at Brand 52 and was a 2023 Hopper Prize finalist. The project addresses political ecology through photography while questioning dominant historical ethics.