North Dakota SPaces

North Dakota Spaces explores the details in the vast areas of the plains. The photographs explain an identity that lies hidden within the land. It is often mistaken, “North Dakota is flat, vast, and empty.” “People live there?” “There is nothing there, just land.” I feel North Dakota’s spirit is lost on many.

The work embraces the aesthetics of texture and the notion of space. It creates a true identity of North Dakota through rock patterns, plant life, decaying structures, natural forms, and unkempt areas. The idea originated from a phrase written about North Dakota from photographer Jim Dow’s book Marking the Landscape, Jim Dow in North Dakota, in which Laurel Reuter wrote the introduction. The quote about North Dakota is as follows: “The landscape absorbs the people, marking them, and possessing them.”

North Dakotan’s feel acres of pride for our land. From our interstate or highways, the land is vast, it stretches out as far as you can see. However, it is not empty. It is not just land. There are details, whether man made or by nature's hand, whether substantial or delicate, they are vital pieces and spaces of North Dakota. This works strives to show off the may textures, colors, and artifacts that exist on North Dakota’s prairies.