I am a photographer of landscapes, natural and manmade. I seek out landscapes where there are suggestions that something has occurred within a stage demarcated by my camera's frame. I try to connect historic events, values, laws and figures to the resulting appearance of landscapes.
The subject of my work revolves around history
and the way culture
interprets and shapes its own history. For many years I gave
shape to these ideas by using architecture as my imagery.
In the series American Ruins
(1993 - 1996) I photographed utilitarian mid-century buildings with the
technique of a nineteenth century expeditionary photographer stumbling
upon remnants of an ancient culture. I framed these remnants of
the recent past as if they were mysterious, foreign and distant (which
might be appropriate considering the strides of our culture in the last
fifty years). In a body of work shot in Greece
in 1997 I tried to look more
objectively and less fancifully at architecture. Before ancient
ruins a visitor faces not only our distant heritage but also 2000 years
worth of interpretation. I attempted to depict these remnants
simply as the stones they are rather than through the interpretations
of each culture or historian that has thought about ancient Greece
since its demise.Having a desire to continue my investigation into the meaning of history while reaffirming my personal connection with nature, I decided in 1998 to switch to historic trees for my subject matter. In the ongoing Historic Trees Project I have been photographing living remnants of history and the symbols of honor or indifference people have bestowed upon them. By photographing the people involved with maintaining the trees I am documenting the actual people in the present who are shaping their/our past.
The more I look at physical remnants of the past the more I ask about present society’s role in their preservation. Why is this building preserved while others were lost? Why is one tree venerated while others are neglected? The objects from the past that we choose to save, the ways in which remnants are memorialized and our selective editing of the past are all methods by which contemporary culture expresses itself. History is pruned or assembled according to our latest ideas and concerns. My attempts to understand what the original builders were expressing by looking at the decaying walls of their buildings have ultimately been endeavors of little success. I have come to see historic objects less as portals and more as mirrors. I have come to see this reflecting quality of historic objects as the real subject of my work. The question I ask now is what does this old remaining object, building or tree say about our times and us?
I think it is important for an artist to be concerned with issues such as these when making work. However, I am still a photographer who revels in the moments of everyday beauty all around. And to satisfy this photographer's love of such moments I started to carry a lightweight plastic camera along with my large and medium format cameras. The "Diana" camera is an all plastic camera produced in the 1960s and 70s notorious/famous for focus and flair issues. For me it has offered an alternative to the staid, thoughtful and precise pictures that I make with larger cameras. The Diana has allowed me to simply appreciate light and composition without significance beyond beauty. The resulting pictures such as those in the In Italia and North Shore series reflect this carefree delight. (Expect more photos from Thailand and Cambodia.)
I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota where I work as a commercial photographer and photographer's assistant. I grew up in New England and received a BFA in Fine Art from the University of Minnesota in 1992.
© Copyright 2004 Jeff Krueger. Portrait © copyright 2003 Heidi Havens. All rights reserved.