The New York Sun

Of Industry & Eden /Gallery-Going

BY DEBORAH GARWOOD


March 15, 2007

Mitch Epstein belongs to a generation of photographers who explored the use of color photography as an extension of documentary photography — and as a subject in itself — during the 1970s. Mr. Epstein first developed his extraordinary sense of color in India, and color played a crucial role in his compelling series on Vietnam in the 1990s. A master of the medium and a mature artist at this stage of his career, Mr. Epstein began in 2003 to turn his formidable power to the subject of energy and its use in America.

According to the artist, the series is not intended to be didactic. Nevertheless, at 70 inches by 92 inches, the huge size of these c-prints — the product of Mr. Epstein's impressive printing technique — makes a big, timely statement. In "Amos Coal Power Plant, Raymond, West Virginia" (2004), the camera overlooks a back yard with green grass, trees, and a small barn-shaped toolshed. The hourglass shape of a nuclear reactor looms over the scene, almost blocking out the sky.

Exactly how close the power plant's stacks are to the community is made clearer in "Poca High School and Amos Plant, West Virginia" (2004), on an afternoon when football practice is under way. The viewer's attention darts between the students' brilliant red jerseys on the grassy field and the three busy, smoking reactor towers the next lot over. In a reticent but inquiring way, the photograph raises questions surrounding communities that pre-dated the influx of nuclear power.

If some of these photographs focus on man-made forms of energy, others depict the power of nature. "Biloxi, Mississippi" (2005) surveys wreckage left after a storm. Once again, Mr. Epstein plants his camera on or near the grounds of a homeowner's property. With dazzling clarity, the image depicts an apparently dead tree festooned with domestic debris. One broken branch skewered a king-size mattress as the waters receded. Cloths that might be tattered sheets, rugs, or towels are draped over the lower branches. Nylon bags gag the upper branches. Spent palm branches hang near the trunk's base and catch the last rays of the day. Throughout the image, a stupendous range of orange-red and brown tones is warmed by diffuse sunlight and accented further by a cool blue sky.

Themes of love and hydropower combine in "Niagara Falls, New York" (2005). Mr. Epstein photographs a middle-aged couple who appear to be engaged in an uneasy chat near rocks and trees at the water's edge. While they negotiate, the great river thunders on toward its inevitable drop. And for an image of surpassing beauty, in which industrial power and nature's forces have come to a restive truce, there is Mr. Epstein's vision of a wrecked oil rig at sunset, "Ocean Warwick, Dauphine Island, Alabama" (2005).