Polar Night | by Mark Mahaney 71.2906° N, 156.7886° W Utqiaġvik, Alaska Top of the world they call it. Don’t feel that way. Feels like the bottom. So dark there’s no end. So cold there’s no feel. …
Mark Mahaney’s Polar Night is a passage through a rapidly changing landscape in Alaska’s northernmost town of Utqiagvik. It’s an exploration of prolonged darkness, told through the strange beauty of a snowscape cast in a two month shadow. The unnatural lights that flare in the sun’s absence and the shapes that emerge from the landscape are unexpectedly beautiful in their softness and harshness. It’s hard to see past the heavy gaze of climate change in an arctic town, though Polar Night is a visual poem about endurance, isolation and survival.
An Arctic town plunged into darkness for two months of the year, and known as “ground zero for climate change”, provided Mark Mahaney with the impetus for his first personal project.
An Arctic town plunged into darkness for two months of the year, and known as “ground zero for climate change”, provided Mark Mahaney with the impetus for his first personal project.
On September 7th, San Francisco Camerawork opens the exhibition, Begin Anywhere. It’s a unique curation about mentorship and artistic collaboration*. Curated by Monique Deschaines, Begin Anywhere explores “the possibilities and influence of artistic mentorship, tracing the paths of visual thinking exchanged among artists and how ideas are developed and manifested in the process of an
Opening September 7th, San Francisco Camerawork opens the exhibition, Begin Anywhere. It’s a unique curation about mentorship and artistic collaboration*. Curated by Monique Deschaines, Begin Anywhere explores “the possibilities and influence of artistic mentorship, tracing the paths of visual thinking exchanged among artists and how ideas are developed and manifested in the process of an evolving artistic practice”. At the core of this exhibition is selected work by three artists Amanda Boe, McNair Evans, and Kevin Kunishi along with collaborative projects with their mentors – Jason Fulford, Todd Hido, Mark Mahaney, Mike Smith, and Alec Soth.The opening reception if from 6-8pm and the exhibition runs through October 14th, 2017.
Mark Mahaney’s newest publication, Polar Night, is a passage through a rapidly changing landscape in Alaska’s northernmost town of Utqiagvik. It’s an exploration of prolonged darkness, told through the strange beauty of a snowscape cast in a two month shadow. The unnatural lights that flare in the sun’s absence and the shapes that emerge from the landscape are unexpectedly beautiful in their softness and harshness. It’s hard to see past the heavy gaze of climate change in an arctic town, though Polar Night is a visual poem about endurance, isolation and survival.
