honorable mention
Miska Draskoczy united states
title
Gowanus Wild
As our urban communities grapple with how to connect with the primeval in a world that offers sterile potted plants as an outlet to nature, I see Gowanus Wild as an urban hiking manual, a continuation of generations of landscape photography, updated for our technological age. If only we adjust our perception of what is ‘nature’ and ‘wild’ around us, a fascinating wilderness can be found in the fringes of our decaying cities where nature and chaos conspire to produce a new type of wild beauty.
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entry description
I aim to turn concepts of nature photography on their head by finding the beautiful in what most consider to be a man-made environmental catastrophe. The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York is one of the most polluted waterways in the country and the neighborhood has seen continuous industrial use since the 19th century. My vision is to capture a marriage of opposites; the organic in the industrial, green within blacks and grays, stillness and peace in urban chaos.As our urban communities grapple with how to connect with the primeval in a world that offers sterile potted plants as an outlet to nature, I see Gowanus Wild as an urban hiking manual, a continuation of generations of landscape photography, updated for our technological age. If only we adjust our perception of what is ‘nature’ and ‘wild’ around us, a fascinating wilderness can be found in the fringes of our decaying cities where nature and chaos conspire to produce a new type of wild beauty.
about the photographer
Miska Draskoczy fell in love with cameras at age 14 and has been behind them ever since. His career has included diverse projects such as co-founding a conceptual arts organization, directing surreal sci-fi shorts, writing and developing a Slamdance shortlisted horror feature, and creating a documentary web series about objects in people's homes. Miska's photography has been widely exhibited in the US and abroad and is the recipient of numerous awards. His urban wilderness series, Gowanus Wild, was shown on THE FENCE at PHOTOVILLE 2013 in Brooklyn, NY, featured on The New Yorker's Photo Booth blog and in the PDN Annual 2014 issue, and exhibited as a solo show at the Vermont Center for Photography. In addition to his personal projects Miska works as a director, editor, and animator through his production company snow23, and is an avid rock and ice climber.back to gallery