About the Greenhouse Panoramas

Since 1999, I have been photographing greenhouses in a panoramic format of multiple panels.
Initially, I was drawn to plants in their architectural setting, but I soon came to recognize that
light was my subject (the ultimate subject, of course, for photography itself).

For over ten years, I have been in the grip of my own form of phototropism, drawn to the greenhouse
as a softbox which modulates light in support of life and growth. In the greenhouse, light changes
continuously—moment by moment, by time of day and season—shifting color, defining form, creating
patterns of light and shadow. I look for opportunities to photograph where the color palette is unusual
or limited, where atmospheric effects provide painterly vignettes within the individual frames of
the greenhouse structure, and where surface patina adds texture and accent.

These panoramas are constructions not documentation. I select situations and points of view that
yield unusual and distinctive images. I utilize the distortion inherent in a wide-angle lens.
I use the grid of the greenhouse as a geometric framework, trying to optimize the composition
of the individual panels (each a separate, but contiguous, photograph) while maintaining the
coherence of the whole.

If my method seems formal, the greenhouse itself is very material and tangible. These unassuming,
utilitarian structures provide endlessly interesting detail, heightened by the evidence of growth and
decay. I remain engaged by the themes that emerge from this long-term project: the passage of time,
the cycle of the seasons, the contrast of light and dark, and the on-going pagent of life, death and
renewal. And this moment in time, the metaphor of the greenhouse is particularly poignant.

Technical information

The greenhouse panoramas were photographed primarily with a medium format Fujica 6 x 9
range finder camera with a 65mm lens. On occasion, I also use a Mamiya 6 x 7 or a large format
Wista 4 x 5 camera. All images are taken on film. Each panel is an individual image.
They are intended to be framed separately and hung as a group with a small space between them.

Initially, the prints were made in a conventional color darkroom either by me or by a color lab.
More recently, the negatives are scanned at the highest possible resolution, corrected digitally,
and printed either as a chromogenic print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, or as an archival inkjet
print. All versions have a gloss surface.

About the editions

Each panorama is available in an edition of five in each of three sizes for each panel:
24 x 16 inches, 30 x 20 inches and 39 x 26 inches.

Each panel is numbered and signed by the artist.

Prices upon request.

More

Link to The New York Times review

Download show catalogue from Victoria Munroe Fine Art, Boston