Artist: Ben Depp

Project: Bayou’s End

Description: Ben Depp’s Bayou’s End is the result of three years “flying above the bayous and wetlands of southern Louisiana in a powered paraglider,” taking aerial photographs from thousands of feet above the ground. Most aerial images of the wetlands are taken from satellite or airplane and provide only a broad rendering of the landscape below, but “in Depp’s photographs, one can make out the different varieties of marsh grass that grow in an area, distinguish living cypress trees from those that have been killed by saltwater intrusion, or see the patterns made by sediment as it is carried through freshwater diversions from the Mississippi River.” Depp spends hours at a time in the air, waiting for just the right moment to capture the “spaces where the geometric patterns of human enterprise—canals, oil platforms, pipelines and roads—collide with nature’s organic forms.” The perspective and detail inherent in his images prompts “viewers to see and understand this landscape in new ways and to reexamine their relationship to the environment that surrounds them.”

Eyes on the South is curated by Jeff Rich. The weekly series features selections of current work from Southern artists, or artists whose photography concerns the South. To submit your work to the series, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..