Long Island Landscape (graded land with house and power lines) 1979

Editor: So, this is Lawrence McFarland's "Long Island Landscape." The stark black and white and the graded land feel unsettling. What do you make of it? Curator: I see an investigation into the transformation of the landscape through labor. The title itself points to a tension, doesn't it? "Landscape" versus "graded land"—natural versus man-made. How are these power lines complicit? Editor: I see. It’s about how we manipulate the earth. The power lines, they're not just there, they are providing a service. Curator: Precisely. The photograph becomes a document of the means of production, reflecting our consumption and its effects on the environment. What have you learned? Editor: I hadn’t considered how the title itself highlights the transformation. Curator: A photograph, like land, can be molded.