BINH DANH'S YOSEMITE
a review of Binh Danh's Yosemite Daguerreotypes at the Haines Gallery
By Hayley Delaney
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| Courtesy of the artist & Haines Gallery |
“I don’t care for ‘sublime’ scenery, do you?” – T.S. Eliot
Binh Danh is probably most recognized for his modified anthotype process examining American recollections of the Vietnam War, particularly in relation to the civilians, soldiers, and battle torn jungle landscapes of his birth country. Using photographic transparencies, Danh takes leaves reminiscent of the foliage in Vietnam and Cambodia and fades the faces of the dead directly into the chlorophyll. It has the disquieting effect of clearly placing us within the natural cycles of death, decay, and growth and reminds us that we are all returning to the soil, the plants, and the earth. The fragility of plants highlights the vulnerability and precariousness of being human that unites us all and forces the viewer to identify with these anonymous people and places.