The photographic series The Vast West is a collision of two different identities. Finding visual grace, in an unforgiving, blue-collared, salt-of-the-earth world. Traditional Western imagery, but displayed without visual distraction, an almost minimalistic approach that highlights the beauty and theatre of the often overlooked subject. The three subjects interwoven into the series are animals, people, and the land. The relationships between those three subjects were the cornerstone of our society, yet those relationships today are increasingly scarce. The Vast West celebrates this once vibrant relationship as well as the subjects themselves. I am also a firm believer in that art manifests your own personal life-experiences and thoughts and The Vast West is no exception. With closer analysis and deconstruction, The Vast West subtly transcends my being and personal elements I was not fully intending to bring forward. Although, I believe this happens with all art. The Vast West was shot over the course of three years and is divided into three sets: Terra, Pratum and Topia. Terra: Subjects were photographed on bare earth, dirt, predominately rodeos in Southern Alberta. Pratum: Subjects were photographed on prairie land, grass, throughout Southern Alberta. Topia: Landscapes exploring texture and line; photographed in Alberta, Nevada and Arizona.
