I create images from wide open prairies on large format film, showing glimpses of what life was like in middle America.
The majority of the images are taken during the most colorful time of the day, right at sunrise or sunset or while the sun is just below the horizon and the sky is full of rich color.
However, I’ve chosen to mostly use Kodak Portra 160 which has a softer color palette and renders these vibrant sunrises in a way that is full of subtleties that compliment the structures. For some scenes I desire a little more color punch and reach for the Ektar or new Ektachrome, especially when working with a more traditional landscape photography mindset.
Photo by Alex Burke
Portra 160
Photo by Alex Burke
Portra 160
Living in a city on the edge of the prairie, I've seen rapid growth fill in where open space once was. It became a goal to capture history before it was overwritten by modernity, lost in pavement and strip malls.
This project has pushed me further out onto empty prairies to photograph this vanishing landscape.
This series is about a balance between documentary and art, trying to capture beauty in a fading landscape.
"Frosty Solitude"
Portra 160 4x5
Weld County, Colorado
Overnight freeze and fog creates a dense layer of hoar frost on a lone tree.
Photo by Alex Burke
Portra 160
Photo by Alex Burke
Ektachrome E100
"Homestead Eclipse"
Kodak Ektachrome E100
Weld County, Colorado
The lunar eclipse travels over an abandoned homestead in this multiple exposure image, 21 exposures were taken on a single sheet of film to create it.