Cuyahoga, photographic scrolls 2024

Cuyahoga consists of eight sets of photographic scrolls. Each set includes five related panoramic images (10.5" × 26.5") printed with archival pigment ink on 17" × 40" rag paper. The photographs document the surface details of a riverbank along the Cuyahoga River, forming a sequential map-like record of a specific site. The project draws from my interest in the precision of geological and aerial photography, as well as the restrained, reductionist landscapes found in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean scroll paintings. These varied influences converge in an approach underscored by close observation and the translation of landscape into a measured visual system.

I live in Tremont, one of Cleveland’s oldest neighborhoods, where my mornings often begin with a walk on the Metropark towpath trail that overlooks an industrial valley alongside the Cuyahoga River. While the ridge line views are expansive, this project emerged from a shift in perspective as my focus shifted to the river’s edge and a narrow stretch of land between an abandoned dock and the massive supports of the Innerbelt Bridge. There, silt deposits, footprints, tire tracks, and resilient native plants contain a layered visual history of the local landscape.

Through repeated visits, I developed a method of photographing that uses my body as both a stabilizing structure and unit of measurement. Holding my iPhone flat at shoulder height and parallel to the ground, I created each panoramic image by sweeping my fully extended arm from left to right. I then stepped forward and repeated the process, building a sequence of images at regular intervals. This process introduced both consistency and subtle variation while embedding physical movement into the structure of the work.

In the studio, I digitally assembled five related panoramas into a sequenced photographic map of specific sections of the riverbank. When printed, these works unexpectedly evoked the format of East Asian scroll paintings. This parallel led me to study scrolls in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where close observation of their proportions and presentation informed the final scale, margins and the use of aluminum rails for display.