honorable mention
Austin Irving united states
title
SHOW CAVES
The images included in this series were made with a Toyo Field camera on 4x5 color negative on location in Singapore, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Greece, New Mexico, Texas, Iowa, Virginia, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, New York, and Tennessee.
Irving is based in Los Angeles where she lives with her husband and their dog, Kodak.
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entry description
SHOW CAVES is a collection of large format analog photographs that explores the anthropocentric tendencies of modern tourism seen in domestic and international show caves. Show Caves are natural caves managed by government or commercial organizations that have been modified to accommodate tourism. The objective of this body of work is to highlight the tension that exists between the natural beauty of caves and the renovations people make in order to transform these spaces into tourist attractions. These caverns have been curated to cater to both the physical needs of sightseers as well as to our collective expectation of the fantasy of a cave. Elaborate lighting, elevators, poured cement trails, even bathrooms and souvenir stands have been added so that ancient geological wonders can be accessible and marketable to a money-giving public. Are these additions acts of vandalism disrupting a delicate eco-system for the sake of commercial profit? Or do these human interventions draw attention to the preservation of caves and make hard-to-access natural wonders readily available for appreciation?The images included in this series were made with a Toyo Field camera on 4x5 color negative on location in Singapore, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Greece, New Mexico, Texas, Iowa, Virginia, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, New York, and Tennessee.
about the photographer
Austin Irving (b 1984, NYC) is an internationally award winning visual artist who works with large format analog photography. Irving graduated cum laude with a BFA from the Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU’s TISCH School Of The Arts in 2006. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Hong Kong, India, Germany, Lithuania, France, and across The United States. Irving has participated in exhibitions at institutions such as MOCA, The Irvine Fine Arts Center, The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Virginia Tech, The International Photography Symposium, and The Katonah Museum of Art. Her work as been the recipient of the Architecture Master Prize, Aesthetica Art Prize, MonoAwards, American Photography Competition, Budapest International Foto Awards, International Photography Awards, PX3 Paris Photography Prize, Tokyo International Foto Awards, and the International Photography Competition at The New York Center for Photographic Arts. Her images have been featured in The LA Times, Wired, Slate, Architectural Digest, LA Weekly, PDN, Art Ltd., Artillery, TimeOut NY, The Herald Tribune, The Huffington Post, Frontrunner, Artsy, Voyage LA, Yatzer, and Artweek LA.Irving is based in Los Angeles where she lives with her husband and their dog, Kodak.
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