Landscape photographs contain a multitude of stories about natural spaces and the people connected to them. In the first episode of Widening the Lens, archaeologist Rachael Z. DeLue and historian Tyler Green critically examine dominant narratives about land, identity, and history generated by early landscape photography, and artist Sky Hopinka considers creating alternative archives that combine the personal with the poetic.

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Image: Sky Hopinka, Cowboy Mouth 2 (Yoiréreginagere), 2022; © Sky Hopinka. Courtesy of the artist

Photographic archives offer a powerful means to narrate history and produce knowledge, but how can they be used in a recuperative way to confront the past? Episode 2 brings together artist A.K. Burns and poet Natalie Diaz to reflect on lost landscapes and cultural erasure, while geologist Marcia Bjornerud invites listeners to view the earth itself as an archive of geologic and human history that can be read and understood as it evolves over time.

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Image: A.K. Burns, before the wake, 2014; © A.K. Burns, Courtesy of the artist

The third episode of Widening the Lens looks at how artists are thinking about the history of public land and the ways in which discriminatory policies have long defined who has access to natural spaces. Ornithologist and writer J. Drew Lanham explores this tension through his family history, while artist Xaviera Simmons, curator Candice Hopkins, and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat convene to reconsider landscapes as sites that can forge solidarity amidst environmental and political concerns.

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Image: Xaviera Simmons, Sundown (Number Two), 2018, Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo, Miami © Xaviera Simmons