For more than 30 years, German photographer Otto Olaf Becker has been documenting the earth’s landscape. His work explores the impact of overpopulation on natural resources – including land, water, food, energy, and heavy metals – in remote corners of the earth, where few see what is happening in real time.
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After completing his work in Greenland, Becker headed south to Malaysia and Indonesia to explore the devolution of forests under human stewardship. This led to his book Reading the Landscape (Hatje Cantz), selections from which will be on view at ClampArt during The Photography Show presented by AIPAD. Here, Becker shows us beauty, tragedy, and farce in a three-act narrative.
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Reading the Landscape opens as the Bible does, with the sublime grandeur of nature, before introducing haunting scenes of destruction that suggest a war fought — and lost. Becker concludes with images made in Singapore, where nature is rendered impotent and reimagined as décor.
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Read the Full Story at Huck Online
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© Olaf Otto Becker, “Primary forest 17, Dendrelaphis caudolineatus,” 2012, Archival pigment print, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City
© Olaf Otto Becker, “Primary swamp forest 01, black water, Kalimantan, Indonesia 03/2012,” 2012, Archival pigment print, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City