All the activity of the natural world
words and images by Jessica Antola
Earlier this year, as New York City was under lockdown, I would go on walks to my local Brooklyn parks to stay sane.
I’d peek my nose out of my mask so I could inhale the scent of the leaves, flowers, and grass.
My iPhone is filled with images from these walks, many of them with the backdrop of the urban landscape: weeds growing up the wall through a crack in the sidewalk, vines overtaking a telephone pole, a tree in full bloom blocking the view from a window.
All the activity of the natural world.
I thought about the repetition of these interminable days and the shifts I saw in nature. I thought about nature’s resilience and constant presence despite our best efforts to dominate it. I returned to my image archive.
These photo collages, composed from photographs I’ve shot on assignment and for myself around the world, allow for a dialogue between nature and the man-made world. They are less about action than inaction. CO2 levels rise, the West Coast burns, the Gulf floods, and yet we continue on as though nothing has changed. Nature knows better.