← What’s on View

Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape

Heinz Galleries May 11, 2024–Jan. 12, 2025
Victoria Sambunaris, Untitled (Dune buggy), All American Canal, CA, 2021; © Victoria Sambunaris. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York

Photography has dramatically altered our access to, understanding of, and impact on the natural world. Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape examines environmental history and degradation, particularly in the American landscape, as well as urgent concerns about climate change, through the camera lens. Featuring nearly 100 works by 19 different artists with multiple museum premieres and new commissions, this exhibition invites you to reconsider your relationship to the environment and understand how photography helps envision alternative paths forward.

Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape is organized by Dan Leers, curator of photography, with Keenan Saiz, Hillman Photography Initiative project curatorial assistant.

Artists in the Exhibition

  • A.K. Burns
  • Chanell Stone
  • Cyprien Gaillard
  • David O. Alekhuogie
  • David Hartt
  • Dionne Lee
  • Edra Soto
  • Erin Jane Nelson
  • Fazal Sheikh
  • Justine Kurland
  • Lucy Raven
  • Mark Armijo McKnight
  • Melissa Catanese
  • Raven Chacon
  • Sam Contis
  • Sky Hopinka
  • Tomás Saraceno
  • Victoria Sambunaris
  • Xaviera Simmons

Podcast Series

Available Now!

Expanding beyond our gallery walls, Widening the Lens is also a six-episode podcast series. Hosted by tennis champion, entrepreneur, and arts advocate Venus Williams, each of the six episodes spotlights different facets of the relationship between photography and the environment.

The podcast features artists, writers, poets, philosophers, and environmentalists in dialogue alongside archival audio, historical anecdotes, sonic experiences, and curatorial interviews.

Contributors Include

  • A.K. Burns
  • Candice Hopkins
  • David O. Alekhuogie
  • Dionne Lee
  • Edra Soto
  • J. Drew Lanham
  • Julian Brave NoiseCat
  • Kathryn Yusoff
  • Marcia Bjornerud
  • Mark Armijo McKnight
  • Natalie Diaz
  • Rachael Z. DeLue
  • Raven Chacon
  • Sam Contis
  • Saretta Morgan
  • Sky Hopinka
  • Tyler Green
  • Victoria Sambunaris
  • William L. Fox
  • Xaviera Simmons

Listen Now →

Watch this trailer to learn more about our podcast, Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape, with host Venus Williams.

Events and Programs

Exhibition Images

A.K. Burns, before the wake, 2014; © A.K. Burns. Courtesy of the artist
Sam Contis, Untitled from the series Overpass, 2020-2022, Carnegie Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by the William Talbott Hillman Foundation; © Sam Contis. Courtesy of the artist
Dionne Lee, Untitled, 2023; © Dionne Lee. Courtesy of the artist
Chanell Stone, Cotton Mud, 2022; © Chanell Stone. Courtesy of the artist
Photograph of a forest of pine trees
Sky Hopinka, Cowboy Mouth 2 (Yoiréreginagere), 2022; © Sky Hopinka. Courtesy of the artist
Victoria Sambunaris, Untitled (Dune buggy), All American Canal, CA, 2021; © Victoria Sambunaris. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York
Mark Armijo McKnight, Tree (Void), 2019; © Mark Armijo McKnight. Courtesy of the artist and Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York
Xaviera Simmons, Sundown (Number Two), 2018; © Xaviera Simmons. Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo, Miami
two people running down a dirt road that appears to be an empty freeway
Justine Kurland, Broadway (Joy), 2001; © Justine Kurland. Courtesy of the artist
Fazal Sheikh, 35°24'36.45"N/107°48'0"W, Ambrosia Lake Uranium Disposal Cell, Grants Region, New Mexico, 2017; © Fazal Sheikh. Courtesy of the artist
David O. Alekhuogie, Avalon and 116th Street, Mom's garden (33.241019, -118.243539)(34.126420, -117.537730), 2021; © David Alekhuogie. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York
Erin Jane Nelson, Pseudofloral detonator, 2023; © Erin Jane Nelson. Courtesy of the artist and Chapter NY, New York

Opening Program

May 11, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Free with museum admission

Join artists, naturalists, musicians, and poets for a day of locating ourselves and our histories within landscapes near and far through the lenses of 19 contemporary artists who comprise Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape.

The day begins at 10 a.m. with light breakfast in the Hall of Sculpture followed by curatorial remarks at 10:30 a.m., readings with poets Natalie Diaz and Saretta Morgan at 11 a.m., a sound performance with artist Raven Chacon at noon, and a landscape at 1 p.m. walk with naturalist Ben Krawec and author Patty Krawec.

Support

Major support for the exhibition is provided by the William Talbott Hillman Foundation and the Henry L. Hillman Foundation. Significant support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Henry Luce Foundation. Generous support is provided by Teiger Foundation. Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Carnegie Museum of Art’s exhibition program is supported by the Carnegie Museum of Art Exhibition Fund and The Fellows of Carnegie Museum of Art.

Carnegie Museum of Art is supported by The Heinz Endowments and Allegheny Regional Asset District. Carnegie Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Andy Warhol Foundation Henry Luce Foundation Teiger Foundation National Endowment for the Arts

Premier Partners

Highmark and the Alleghany Health Network PNC Financial Services Group Nemacolin logo Bill Few Associates Wealth Management