Daniel George is an artist and educator, whose interests in photography are in land interpretation and use, and how these things reference culture. His work has been exhibited nationally, and has been featured in numerous online publications, including Fraction Magazine, Feature Shoot, Flak Photo, and Oxford American: Eyes on the South. He is currently based out of Rexburg, Idaho, where he is a Visiting Professor of Photography at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Today we share his series, Nobody Wanted.
In the American West, areas of land ignored by early settlers were once described as “the lands nobody wanted.” These places, now publicly owned and overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, are recognized by communities as socially, economically, and environmentally valuable. After moving to the Upper Snake River Valley of Southeast Idaho, Daniel began exploring some of these areas in order to familiarize himself with the region’s geography, and how local residents make use of it. Almost immediately, he noticed artifacts left behind by individuals who utilize the expanses of open desert for recreational purposes—the most prevalent being target shooting.
Through photography, he documents this specific aspect of land use as an investigation of rural, Intermountain West culture, and environmental stewardship. In order to more intricately describe this relationship, he records both abandoned objects, and individuals within the landscape. A fascination with physical remnants that allude to culture prompts his examination of the artifacts, while an inclination to meet locals, and discuss the environmental impacts of target shooting leads him to seek out portrait subjects. These images represent an examination of the complexity of a particular social use of land, and its ecological consequences.
To see more of Daniel’s work, please visit his website.
Daniel is featured in Aint-Bad Magazine Vol. 3 No. 1 From Here On. Purchase a copy here!