Isaac Sachs
I think of landscape as space given context by human activity. Space has significance to people because of the human experience attached to it. As a landscape photographer, I'm interested in exploring not just the aesthetic beauty of what I photograph, but also the meanings and values embedded in the landscape around us.
As an electrical engineer by training, I'm most interested in exploring the significance of our electrical infrastructure. Almost all of our modern conveniences are possible because of this infrastructure, and yet, it's easy not to notice where it is and how it looks. Some aspects of this infrastructure are dictated by practical concerns and others by social or aesthetic concerns. Electrical substations, for example, are sometimes decorated to feel more integrated with their surroundings. Sometimes they're hidden entirely, to allow us to forget that they exist. Because of our dependence on it, ultimately even concealed infrastructure is a major element of our surroundings.
The natural landscape has been altered to suit human purposes, and in turn, human life has been shaped by our constructed landscape. This is another of my primary goals—to analyze the relationships between natural, manmade, and inner landscapes.