Biography

David Miller started photographing when he was eight years old. Some people outgrow childish interests, some people don’t. In the years since then, his photographs have been acquired by the National Gallery of Canada, the Canada Council Art Bank, The Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, amongst other institutions.

Artist’s Statement

When one thinks of landscapes, as a normal tendency one might conjure visual images of the grandeur of nature. The majesty of Niagara Falls, the limitless sweep of the desert, the breath-taking vista of the Alps all leap to the mind’s eye as exemplars of the picturesque landscape.

I will suggest a more modest picturesque: truncated majesty, with waterfalls pumped over artificial rocks. Envisage the sweep of the desert somewhat limited by the fence which surrounds the enclosure. And if you don’t turn your head, there are diminutive breath-taking vistas available, complete with appropriate animals. These miniature landscapes have of course been designed to be picturesque, and they are, especially if we suspend disbelief and accept their scale.

The photographs were made in Dec. 2003 in and around Tucson, Arizona. The landscape in this area has attracted photographers for well over 100 years, so the photographs in front of you continue a long tradition, but with one small difference. In these photographs, all of the landscapes exist, but without exception they have been constructed by humans, down to the fabricated rocks. From the perspective of the real animals which inhabit them, these are natural landscapes, the only ones they have. And who is to say whether our perspective is any more accurate?

The prints are archivally processed selenium and gold-toned gelatine-silver.