Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Glen Erler's There Is Almost Always A Tree

Glen Erler's project There Is Almost Always A Tree oscillates between nostalgia and banality quite beautifully. Possessing the faded, pastel palette of many old snapshots, Erler's images, in certain ways, seem to circumvent the standard imprint of time. His subjects cannot easily be dated. They don't look terribly old, and at the same time, nor do they evoke the contemporary. Ultimately, these spaces seem to be stuck in sort of timeless pictorial state. In the statement, Erler discusses his experiences in the nameless New York towns these photographs were taken in:

"We stayed in small towns where the pace was slow but confident while trees still grew on industrial sites and the grass found a way through the cracks in the pavement. Where derelict government housing met a new airport and plans for a new shopping mall weren’t far away. I know that nature will always play the lead role in my eyes. We just have to look for it and not the buildings surrounding it."











All photographs from the series There Is Almost Always A Tree

Images © Glen Erler