ode to the 8 x 10, but not to the jpeg

I am not an Andreas Gursky fan. And that’s putting it mildly. Because of him, photographs have to be fifteen feet wide now. And because of him, we forget that real detail and landscape – not created– is fascinating and beautiful. Even more, in fact.

It is thanks to scale and detail that Sze Tsung Leong’s show at Yossi Milo, up through May 17, sucked me right in. The series on view, Horizons, presents broad landscapes from across the globe, from heaving cityscapes and mountains of homes (and you can see every window), to apocalyptic deserts. The images measure 14” x 24” each and are installed side by side, creating the illusion of a continuous line.

Above, Dubai (2007) followed by Jersey City (2002).

It’s easy to believe that we dominate our surroundings, that we create the world we live in. But, spend a little time with these images, and you’ll remember that our environments are the most unusual sets and that at any moment these places we call home might be razed or drowned or blown apart. In his previous series, History Images, Sze Tsung Leong shows us just this, in fact, by charting history in construction and over construction in China.

Below, Yihao Qiao, YuzhongDistrict, Chongqing, 2002.