Susan Lakin

Immersed daily in the Southern California freeway system, I began to photograph road marks and lateral landscapes that sped by my vehicle.  This initial process of documentation transformed into work that addresses the speed with which we travel in a technological culture, our relationship with nature, and photography's role in shaping our aesthetic of the natural world.

Through long exposures, the photographs record the fast pace of our contemporary lives.  The side of my car, which simulates the sky or sea, is often used in the images as a reference to the individual, the commuter, isolated and immersed in this accelerated lifestyle.  Captured skid marks and traces of traffic accidents reflect a violence that is very present in an urban society.  The camera is moving with the car, which creates a sense of stillness-a stillness that stands in contrast to the movement on the highway.  Tranquility is achieved despite the velocity of the car and spaciousness is created from a segment of the road, an inherent contradiction also found in the relationship between the natural and urban landscape.

Recognizing the enormous amount of visual information that we encounter without conscious notice, I began to use infrared film to capture subliminal data as a way to investigate what is absorbed and transformed in our psyche.  Infrared film has a spectral sensitivity that goes beyond the visible spectrum allowing the ability to explore the idea of unconsciously perceived realities. My camera becomes an extension of my mind; thus these images become introverted landscapes reminiscent of a "natural" landscape portrayed in vivid "unnatural" colors.  These combined elements create a graceful blend of man made structures with nature, yet leave an electrical tension in contrast to the perceived serene landscape.

I've created images that pull from our visual vocabulary of the sublime unspoiled natural world.  By photographing what has become a banal part of our everyday and transforming it into a simulation of the pristine landscape, I hope to address the reality of our contemporary urban landscape and the commuter culture.