GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Drew Nikonowicz
Drew Nikonowicz
This World and Others Like It
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This World and Others Like It investigates the role of the 21st century explorer by combining computer modeling with analogue photographic processes. Drawing upon the language of 19th Century survey images, I question their relationship with current methods of record making.
Thousands of explorable realities exist through rover and probe based imagery, virtual role-playing, and video game software. Within the contemporary wilderness, robots have replaced photographers as mediators producing images completely dislocated from human experience. This suggests that now the sublime landscape is only accessible through the boundaries of technology.
About author:
Drew Nikonowicz (born in St. Louis, 1993) presently lives and works in Missouri. His work employs computer simulations as well as analog photographic processes to deal with landscape and exploration in contemporary photography. He recently won the 2015 Lenscratch Student Prize, the 2015 Aperture Portfolio Prize, and exhibited his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.