David Benjamin Sherry

David Benjamin Sherry

AMERICAN MONUMENTS

Hardcover
10.75 x 13.75 inches
31 plates tipped-in by hand
160 pages
Radius Books
2020

From the artist:

David Benjamin Sherry: American Monuments is a landscape photography project that captures the spirit and intrinsic value of America’s threatened system of national monuments. In April 2017 an executive order called for the review of the 27 national monuments created since January 1996. In December 2017 the final report called on the president to shrink four national monuments and change the management of six others, recommending that areas in Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans be offered for sale, specifically for oil drilling and coal and uranium mining. 

American Monuments focuses on the areas under review, with special emphasis on those that have already been decimated. Sherry documents these pristine, sacred, and wildly diverse areas using the traditional, historic 8×10 large format. The resulting photographs not only convey the beauty of these important and ecologically diverse sites, but also shed light upon the plight of the perennially exploited landscape of the American West.

Photography by David Benjamin Sherry
Texts by Terry Tempest Williams and Bill McKibben

Book review by Francesco Scalici |

Being a landscape photographer myself, means that having the opportunity to photograph something extraordinary (carved by nature) so to speak makes the journey almost more valuable than the photograph itself. One could say that the photograph of a landscape photographer is only as good as the value of the journey he or she took to get there… So, what does landscape photography teach us, aside from the technical aspects of using your camera equipment? How can we learn to get the best from a landscape while working around the idea of intrusion? You see, the introduction of ourselves within a landscape already poses a few questions, one of which is: ‘have we contaminated the scene’? We may sometimes feel that the idea of capturing a landscape through the lens of a camera will never do it justice, that we as photographers are rather like imposers, poking at mother nature’s beauty.

I have found this to be true but only to a certain extent. Relinquishing yourself to the value and beauty of nature doesn’t mean that you (the photographer) are unworthy to take the shot, it simply means that you won’t always get the shot you desire. Being a landscape photographer opens the possibility to failure on a constant basis. It underlines a real value in the few photographs that we hold dear to us, mother nature will not always bless us every time we decide to go out and photograph. It’s rather a relationship based on patience.

David Benjamin Sherry’s investigation of the idea of various American monuments plays into the notion of ‘intrusion’, however in a much more direct fashion. I believe this body of work to have two meanings. On one side we see an investigation of various American landscapes being threatened due to oil, coal and uranium mining. A direct threat which aims to abolish the landscape completely and irreversibly change nature.

However, I believe there to be a second type of threat, a threat which plays into Sherry’s investigation of a ‘forced change’ in landscape: ‘The over-saturated photograph’. Before discussing Sherry’s images let’s begin by analysing Mesa arch in Utah. The notion of the over saturated image draws reference to places like Mesa and Corona arch, a mecca for landscape photographers around the globe, these pockets of extraordinary nature play host to a beautiful combination of elements.

Their recent rise in popularity has also become somewhat of a problem as the landscape itself is no longer seen as a place of exploration, the landscape photographer is rather forced to adhere to various rules in order to maximise his or her chances of getting the shot. In my opinion, landscapes which have been popularized like this have negative effects on how we as photographers perceive the experience of discovering a great photograph. Thus, Sherry’s investigation of some of these ‘monuments’ introduce a hidden wave of contamination.

Colour is also something of great importance. A very unconventional way of observing a landscape and almost minimalist in nature. Sherry’s use of one colour adds a strange depth to the image, as if each colour represents a warning. His deep purples and blues, coupled with his focus on the specific formations of a landscape are somewhat alien, further presenting this idea of the barren landscape or wasteland.

As previously stated, Sherry’s investigation of these American monuments is more about a direct threat towards the landscape. A threat that is irreversible and that will eliminate the landscape due to oil consumption and mining. Here we see the American monuments take on a new meaning, the photographs themselves are akin to wanted posters or death sentences. Sherry not only paints a warning to those willing to sacrifice the land for consumption but almost foreshadows his feelings towards the landscapes that will be lost. This collection is a rather a report of the American landmarks and their future and the elimination of nature’s beautiful structures.

The manipulation of colour is therefore of vital importance for Sherry, it is not only a testament toward his experiences of traversing through the American west but elevates the landscape image to something of a personal investigation. Specializing with an 8 by 10 large format this documentary project is a very genuine understanding of the landscapes that allows us to relinquish ourselves to nature and feeling of exploration.