© Emmet Gowin
Currently not on view
Toutle River Valley, Mount St. Helens,
1981, printed 1982
Emmet Gowin, born 1941, Danville, VA; active Princeton, NJ
x1984-25
In his aerial landscape photographs, Gowin investigates how human activities such as the depletion of natural resources and the testing of military weapons negatively impact the environment. Here, he documents the area around Mount
St. Helens a few weeks after the volcano’s dramatic eruptions in 1980, depicting how human attempts to harness nature usually end in catastrophe. By adopting a distant viewpoint, Gowin’s photos strike a balance between description and abstraction, suggesting that devastation and beauty can coexist. As a result of this tension, his work does not have a clear message. Rather, as Gowin states, "The picture is like a prayer, an offering, and hopefully an opening through which to seek what we don’t know, or already know and should take seriously." Emmet Gowin served as professor of photography at Princeton University from 1973 until his retirement in 2010.
St. Helens a few weeks after the volcano’s dramatic eruptions in 1980, depicting how human attempts to harness nature usually end in catastrophe. By adopting a distant viewpoint, Gowin’s photos strike a balance between description and abstraction, suggesting that devastation and beauty can coexist. As a result of this tension, his work does not have a clear message. Rather, as Gowin states, "The picture is like a prayer, an offering, and hopefully an opening through which to seek what we don’t know, or already know and should take seriously." Emmet Gowin served as professor of photography at Princeton University from 1973 until his retirement in 2010.
Information
Title
Toutle River Valley, Mount St. Helens
Dates
1981, printed 1982
Maker
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 23.1 x 23.4 cm. (9 1/8 x 9 3/16 in.)
sheet: 27.8 x 35.5 cm. (10 15/16 x 14 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, with a matching gift from David H. McAlpin, Class of 1920
Object Number
x1984-25
Place Depicted
North America, United States, Washington, Mount St. Helens
Inscription
In graphite, verso bottom: Toutle River Valley, Mount Saint Helens / 1981 / emmet gowin 1983
In graphite, verso upper right corner: [encircled] 3 18 +18B [?] +
In graphite on mat, verso center: 16 [encircled] University of Rhode Island / C4 / Daytona 54
In graphite on mat, verso lower left corner: Friends [encircled] 14 $2500.
Culture
Techniques
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