Re-creational Spaces

Images from this project show how landscape has been preserved, altered or commodified for sightseeing. This series invites the viewer to consider the historical and cultural significance of these places and to question the tourist’s role in observing these sites. — Jessica AuerRefreshingly, Jessica Auer’s project, ​‘Re-creational Spaces’, doesn’t condemn humanity for wanting to move through and experience the grandeur of the world. Instead, she offers a fairly neutral look at sightseeing. I experience a form of gratitude from the images — that we humans do have access to these sites.

A few commodified landscapes exist in the project as a kind of warning — our desire to consume en masse can remake us in the image of Vegas. And the world’s natural wonders are not necessarily immune from our consumptive desires. With the range of natural and altered sites presented, Auer poses a good question — what does responsible sightseeing look like?

The noble cliffs of ​‘Schynige Platte’ and the blazing ​‘Valley of the Fire, Nevada’ seem to retain their natural integrity, as travelers tread lightly on the spare dirt paths. The curving walkways become a seemingly natural part of the landscape. I am longingly jealous of the tiny figures winding through Auer’s scenes. Pictures like these renew both my protective and my experiential love of the natural world.

-Lisa


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