R O S E M A R I E C R O M W E L L | A Geological Survey

Rose Marie Cromwell’s photographic project, A Geological Survey, examines the complicated history of the Western US in the context of her personal experience growing up in the region. The project is grounded in memories of impressionable road trips out West as a child, but contextualized by her experience of motherhood and anxiety about her daughter’s future. She is interested in the history of photography of the western landscape – typically a male-driven, colonial space – but aims to reframe it from the point of view of a mother and environmentalist. Often, depictions of landscape can separate the land from the photographer. On the contrary, Cromwell aims to make images that show the important spiritual relationship she has with the West, while acknowledging it as a geography that has a long history of exploitation. In some of the images, her daughter, her mother, and she perform for the camera in off-the-grid locations to illustrate how closely their identities and futures are tied to the land. Additionally, she photographs a wide array of found scenes, such as ruins of mining camps, rocks as talismans, and landscapes abstracted by light or mirrors to derive meaning from past wounds and find clues to a more sustainable future.