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gallery declan o'dowd maritime magnified + new york, lost and found |
Declan O'Dowd
Maritime Magnified examines the marks that a growing society is making on the contemporary urban landscape.
‘Landscape’ is a public domain. It has been appropriated and transformed to meet the growing demands of our society. These marks on the contemporary urban landscape are what interest me from the individual, societal and environmental viewpoint.
After a prolonged absence from Canada I am confronted with the reality of a vast urban sprawl that is no longer infinite. In this series of photographs, I aim to maintain the authenticity of this experience; to document our interaction with theenvironment.
The lack of ‘person’ in these photos allows one to see the contemporary urban landscape as a purely aesthetic commodity. Post apocalyptic in nature, these images, sometimes harmonic sometimes ironic, document progress and ask the viewer to confront reality. Our mark is profound be it deliberate or not.
New York, Lost and Found, the other series of work of Declan O'Dowd on view at anderson, has been a work in progress since 1999, when the artist was living in Spanish Harlem and attending The Cooper Union School of Art in Manhattan for six months. While living in New York, he took in excess of 200 Polaroid images; a visual diary of the urban landscape he found, strolling the streets during the late night and early morning. The works on view have been re-shot from their original Polaroid format using a 4” x 5” large format camera and transferred to colour negatives. The enhanced contrast and colour imbalances resulting from the process showcase the objects, buildings, and storefronts in a new light and yet they retain the flavour of New York City.
Declan O’Dowd was born in Toronto and moved to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in his early teens. Driving around rural Nova Scotia, from the age of sixteen meant freedom and escape from the gaze of small town living. Areas like Saw Pit Road (The Pit), Lahave, and Hirtle’s Beach became experimentation grounds to explore his creative freedom and remain an inspiration today. Trips abroad at this time as well; to Finland, the UK, France, the Netherlands and the Caribbean, provided him a visual and anthropological approach to education not found at school.
Declan received a bursary to attend The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City in 1999 and graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2000. Since graduating, he has photographed and lived abroad in the Southern United States and Asia. He now resides in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia where he continues his photographic journey.
Maritime Magnified examines the marks that a growing society is making on the contemporary urban landscape.
‘Landscape’ is a public domain. It has been appropriated and transformed to meet the growing demands of our society. These marks on the contemporary urban landscape are what interest me from the individual, societal and environmental viewpoint.
After a prolonged absence from Canada I am confronted with the reality of a vast urban sprawl that is no longer infinite. In this series of photographs, I aim to maintain the authenticity of this experience; to document our interaction with theenvironment.
The lack of ‘person’ in these photos allows one to see the contemporary urban landscape as a purely aesthetic commodity. Post apocalyptic in nature, these images, sometimes harmonic sometimes ironic, document progress and ask the viewer to confront reality. Our mark is profound be it deliberate or not.
New York, Lost and Found, the other series of work of Declan O'Dowd on view at anderson, has been a work in progress since 1999, when the artist was living in Spanish Harlem and attending The Cooper Union School of Art in Manhattan for six months. While living in New York, he took in excess of 200 Polaroid images; a visual diary of the urban landscape he found, strolling the streets during the late night and early morning. The works on view have been re-shot from their original Polaroid format using a 4” x 5” large format camera and transferred to colour negatives. The enhanced contrast and colour imbalances resulting from the process showcase the objects, buildings, and storefronts in a new light and yet they retain the flavour of New York City.
Declan O’Dowd was born in Toronto and moved to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in his early teens. Driving around rural Nova Scotia, from the age of sixteen meant freedom and escape from the gaze of small town living. Areas like Saw Pit Road (The Pit), Lahave, and Hirtle’s Beach became experimentation grounds to explore his creative freedom and remain an inspiration today. Trips abroad at this time as well; to Finland, the UK, France, the Netherlands and the Caribbean, provided him a visual and anthropological approach to education not found at school.
Declan received a bursary to attend The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City in 1999 and graduated from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2000. Since graduating, he has photographed and lived abroad in the Southern United States and Asia. He now resides in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia where he continues his photographic journey.