Reflecting on 2024’s economic downturn and ongoing struggles for employment after layoffs, Stephen finds a metaphor of such existence in the everyday environment. kampfUnkraut (fighting weeds) uses false-color infrared imagery to isolate these “unwanted” plants that are downtrodden and passed-by, excluded and invisible in indicators and imagery of urban “progress”.
Their ongoing struggle to survive and stubborn tenacity, making their home in the non-spaces of cracks and crevices of impervious urban surfaces, ruptures the smooth polished superficiality of the urban and contemporary zeitgeist. A harsh life, ignored by the well-off, but a struggle no less grand than the romantic landscape photography trope of trees clinging precariously to sides of cliffs.
Conceived & Photographed by: [photolink] | Completed: 04/10/24