Great Lakes 2004
The shorelines of the Great Lakes vary from landscapes of remote natural wilderness to the man made edges of some of the world’s largest cities. I grew up on a rural land mass that juts out into Lake Ontario, have lived in the cities of Toronto and Chicago and vacationed on the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior. Throughout this time, the calming view of the lake’s horizon has been a constant in my life.These photographs explore the vistas of the Great Lakes using a large format camera and long exposures in the light of early dawn. Whether it is from the rock face of the Canadian Shield on the north shore of Superior or a recently created landfill on the shores of Lake Ontario, my images examine the places where land, water and sky meet. In all instances the resulting photographs are natural sites dominated by the deep open space created by sky and water. This view of nothingness becomes as much about a state of mind as it is a manifestation of geography. RB
