As you look at the image above, can you feel the blazing desert sun and coarse sand on your skin? Artist Chris Engman uses nature photography to transform human-made interiors into unexpected environments. “I believe photography derives its power precisely from the fact it can’t be entered, however much we may want to,” Engman says. “When I make photographs, I try to be mindful of this, even to exploit it.”
To make Landscape for Quentin, shown above, the artist visited a desert landscape and took hundreds of photos. He digitally increased the scale of the photos. Then he attached them to the walls, ceilings, and floors of a hallway. He photographed the space, creating the visual illusion of rolling sand dunes indoors.
Engman explains that once the viewer stands close to his photograph, he or she realizes that it isn’t composed of a single image. The viewer encounters an artificial space that echoes the natural world. “Making this installation has been a thrilling process,” Engman says. “This new way of working seems to afford many new possibilities.”